The forest didn't breathe
Not the wind
Not the trees
Not even Shirobane
Everything froze when Raen's mind slipped into that cold, impossible space.
Kaien felt it first, the pressure dropping, the world tightening like a fist around them.
"Raen… no… not that," he whispered, gripping his staff hard enough to crack the wood.
Raen didn't hear him
His eyes had turned black..... not darkness, but a void that swallowed the light around them.
And from his skin, thin threads of purple flickered… then caught like sparks.
The sparks became embers.
The embers bloomed into flames.
Dark purple fire wrapped his entire body, rising and falling like breath made visible. But the flames didn't burn the air, they erased it. The world bent away from him, distorting like heat haze but colder, much colder.
Shirobane, halfway down the ravine, spun toward them.
"What.....?" She didn't finish.
A shockwave of black-purple fire exploded outward.
It wasn't heat.
It wasn't force.
It was absence.
The trees didn't burn, they withered.
The rocks didn't crack , they crumbled like dust.
And Shirobane's chakra armor, the signature of a top hunter, shattered around her body like glass.
Her eyes widened
"…Voidflame…?" she whispered, horrified.
Then the blast hit her square in the chest.
Her body was thrown back, slamming into the cliffside. The ravine split from the impact, stones tumbling as she slid to the ground, unconscious, her mask cracked down the middle.
Raen didn't move.
His body swayed, flames growing brighter, hotter, colder and wrong in every direction.
"Master…" Raen's voice was distorted, layered with something not-human. "She was going to take you from me…"
Kaien stepped forward cautiously,"Raen. Listen to me. You're losing control."
Raen lifted his head, but his eyes were not Raen's eyes.
"Control? I feel… awake."
The purple fire surged.
Then.... just as suddenly.... his body gave out.
Raen collapsed, the Voidflames dying instantly. The world resumed in a snap, wind rushing back, branches swaying, sound crashing into existence all at once.
Kaien caught him before his head hit the stone.
"Raen! Raen!"
But the boy's eyes were closed, breath shallow, skin cold as winter water.
Kaien clenched his jaw, fear flickering through his usually calm expression.
"…If he's this strong while sealed," he murmured, "what happens when the seal breaks completely?"
He looked toward Shirobane's unconscious form, her armor cracked, her face pale beneath the broken mask.
"And what will the world do to him first?"
Shirobane woke up tied to a tree, wrists bound with Kaien's sealing rope, a rope only former Flow Masters knew how to create.
She groaned, blinking through the dizziness, "You… tied me? Really, Kaien?"
Kaien sat on a boulder across from her, arms crossed
"You attacked my student."
"I was tracking a surge. A dangerous one."
She met his eyes, "I didn't know it was you."
"You sensed Raen"
"I sensed something impossible," she corrected. "And now I know what. That flame… Kaien, that wasn't chakra. That was....."
"Don't say it" Kaien's tone was sharp.
Shirobane smirked tiredly, "You never liked being corrected."
"And you never learned to stop chasing me," Kaien said dryly, "Some things never change."
Her expression softened for a moment like something old, something wounded but it vanished quickly.
"Why are you here, Shirobane?"
She looked away, "The Order sent me. Not to kill you. Not this time."
A sigh escaped her, "They want you back."
Kaien blinked,"…Back?"
"They want you to teach again. A position at the Academy. They're desperate. The Flow is fluctuating and something's wrong with the Source. Your disappearance scared them. And now this… boy…"
Kaien stiffened, "Raen is not going with you."
"He must," Shirobane said firmly, "I was ordered to escort him safely. The Academy wants him under protection, not execution."
Kaien stared
Shirobane continued, voice lowering, "They don't understand him… but they don't want another 'incident.' Not after what happened with you."
Kaien's grip on his staff tightened.
"…I left for a reason, Shirobane."
"And maybe it's time to return for a reason," she replied quietly.
Silence stretched between them..... old pain, old respect, old love half-buried under duty.
Then Raen groaned from inside the cave.
Kaien immediately turned and rushed to him.
Raen woke slowly, vision fuzzy, his body aching like he'd been crushed by a mountain.
He sat up, clutching his head,"Master… what… what happened to me?"
Kaien knelt beside him, "You lost control. The Voidflame emerged."
Raen swallowed hard,"That black fire… I've never seen it before. It felt like… something else was moving me."
His hands trembled
"What is it? Why do I have it?"
Kaien didn't answer immediately.
He looked toward the cave entrance, where the forest lay unnaturally quiet as if still afraid of Raen.
Finally, he spoke
"It's the part of you the world sealed away. The part even you aren't supposed to touch. And now it's waking faster than I expected."
Raen's heart pounded, "Why was it sealed? Who sealed it?"
Kaien hesitated
Then came the truth
"Your father did. Your father was...."
Raen froze
Before he could respond, Shirobane's voice called from outside:
"Kaien. The boy needs to hear the Order's message."
Raen looked at Kaien, confusion and fear battling in his eyes.
"Master… what's happening to me?"
Kaien placed a steady hand on his shoulder.
"You're not cursed, Raen.
You're not broken.
You're something the world hasn't seen in centuries."
He stood, letting Raen catch his breath.
"But understand this-
If those flames appear again before you learn to control them…
they won't just scare hunters."
Kaien paused, looking at the forest Raen had scarred
"They will change the world."
Raen looked at his hands.....still shaking and whispered
"…Then I need to know. What is the black flame?"
The wind outside trembled.
And the answer would change everything.