The wind eavesdropped on the silent plain, whistling through blades of grass that bowed like listeners to an untold story. Birds chirped faintly in the distance. The heavens, heavy with clouds, drew droplets of rain, each one landing softly upon Raen's cheeks as he stirred awake.
Cold
Quiet
Raen blinked, vision still hazy, and felt the sky's tears mix with the warmth of his own. He didn't remember crying, perhaps the heart knew what the mind refused to accept.
The truth from yesterday…..
Or what little of it he understood…..
Raen sat up slowly, hand clutching his chest as though holding himself together.
"Who….. am I?"
The question left his mouth in a whisper, swallowed by the endless breathe.
The seal
The Voidflame
His father
Kaien's warnings
Shirobane's message
Everything felt like pieces of a puzzle thrown into a a box with missing cues.
He lifted his hand, staring at the faint lingering glow of chakra from last night's overwhelming surge.
A shade that felt familiar…. yet foreign.
Like a memory he never lived.
"Chakra…. what even is it?" he murmured.
He knew the explanations, every child did. Life energy. Spiritual and physical molding. The foundation of cultivation.
But what was it to him?
Why did it feel like something deeper lived inside him? Something sleeping…. something watching.
He pressed his palms into his cheeks to focus, breathing deeply and calm.
But his mind refused to be still
Kaien's footsteps approached from behind.
"Awake already?" he asked, though his tone softened when Raen didn't respond. "Your mind is.… noisy today."
Raen lowered his head, "I just… can't focus."
"Understandable" Kaien sat beside him. "You learned truths meant for men decades older than you. And yet, you are still young."
Raen's lips tightened
Kaien let the silence settle. The rain eased to the sunlight piercing the clouds.
Shirobane eventually joined them, arms crossed, eyes watching idly.
"You look like a ghost trying to remember its name," the Brown haired Shirobane remarked. "What's eating your brain so early in the morning?"
Raen frowned, "Everything."
"Good," Shirobane declared
Raen stared "Good?"
"One who questions himself walks a path to strength safer than one who believes everything blindly." Shirobane smirked. "Doubt reshapes men, and certainty blinds them."
Kaien raised a brow at the uncharacteristic wisdom.
Shirobane shrugged, "What? I'm not just a blade-for-hire with good hairs."
Raen exhaled a short laugh despite his turmoil.
But the lightness faded as Shirobane grew serious.
"Kaien," he began, "I convinced you to take the kid to the Academy, but I didn't tell you everything."
Kaien's eyes narrowed, "What else?"
Shirobane rested a hand on the hilt of his weapon again, not out of threat, but habit, as though grounding herself.
"The Flow Order's previous Grandmaster, the one who gave the hunt order? He's been exposed," Shirobane said. "Manipulating missions, forging accusations, twisting prophecies. All of it."
Raen looked up sharply
Kaien's gaze darkened
"He was exiled." Shirobane finished. "Banished from the Order."
Raen breathed out slowly. "Then… the one who wanted me dead…"
"No longer holds authority," Shirobane affirmed.
"And the new head of the Order?" Kaien pressed.
Shirobane smirked, "You'll like this. It's your old master."
Kaien froze "...Master Rensai?"
"The very one"
The rain stopped entirely, as if the sky itself paused.
Kaien looked away, jaw tightening with emotion he rarely let slip.
Raen watched him quietly. It was the first time he'd seen his stoic master shaken.
Shirobane continued, "Rensai is strict, but fair. If anyone can protect the kid while teaching him, it's that old monster."
Raen swallowed
"Then… why does it still feel like I'm walking into a storm?"
Shirobane's voice swayed. "Because you are. But this time, you won't be walking in alone."
Raen's heart tightened at the words.
They resumed their journey, but Raen's mind drifted.
Who was he?
Why did he possess such a seal?
And more importantly..… why did the Voidflame respond to his pain more strongly than his strength?
He clenched his fists.
Father.… what have you left me with?
He thought long about everything until a new realization hit him.
"My necklace," he whispered.
Kaien paused, "What?"
"The one thing my father left me…. I left it at the village."
The small necklace carved of Black stone and golden threads, a relic with no known purpose, yet Raen had always felt strangely calm when touching it, almost as if it protected him.
Kaien nodded slowly, "Then we retrieve it."
"We're only a few hours away," Shirobane added. "Let's move."
But when they neared the village, Kaien's expression turned sharp.
Smoke
Dark, heavy trails rising into the sky
Shirobane sniffed the air, eyes flattening.
"Beasts," she growled. "A pack, maybe more."
Raen's heart dropped into his stomach.
"Village Chief.… the others….!"
He didn't wait
The moment the walls came into view, cracked, flames licking the wood.... Raen sprinted.
"Raen! Wait!" Kaien shouted.
Too late
Raen planted a foot on a fallen cart, vaulted onto the half-broken wall, and jumped himself into the chaos.
The village roared with screams and clashing steels.
Massive horned boar-beasts crashed through homes.
Wolf-like shades sprinted between shadows, blood stained the earth.
Villagers fought desperately, Some wept. Some trembled.
And then someone shouted "don't touch my family"
"R–Raen?!"
Heads turned
Faces shifted
The boy who left in disgrace….
The boy whispered to bring misfortune….
The boy they'd doubted…. feared….
He had returned
Raen landed atop of a destroyed roof, eyes blazing, not with Voidflame, not with hatred.… but with resolve.
He inhaled deeply
Mushin activated
The world slowed
"Focus
Focus
Remember
What we have learnt"
The first beast charged, a horned boar twice his size.
Raen slid down the roof tiles, chakra of nature swirling into his legs, and launched himself forward with a burst that cracked the ground.
His punch landed under the beast's chin, sending it flipping onto its back.
Villagers gasped.
"Is that.… Raen?"
"He grew.… stronger?"
"After everything… he came back to save us?"
Guilt
Regret
Astonishment
Hope
Emotions tangled like lightning around him.
Raen didn't look at anyone.
He simply fought.
Because whether they hated him or not…
This was still his home.
And he would protect it.