Chapter Eight

Chapter 8: The Outside World

Chapter 8-2: Exile Found

Meanwhile in Yama Zengo, Toshiro had buried his emotions deep under a layer of ice and logic. His only emotions were shown to Kitanni who he had gotten comfortable and close to over time. Everyone else only saw his cold and confident side. He continued training in the same room his father died and picked up his blade as a secondary to honor him. He changed his style from one hand to two hands during training, learning how to dual wield in the hopes of challenging Amane and catching him off guard. He was still better with one blade and two was still a long way off for him to use it effectively. He needed all his strength to challenge his old friend.

As he trained, his ice powers were becoming sharper and stronger, as they responded to his will. Ice darts shooting from the frozen ground. His blade launched small splinters of ice as he swung. A lesson from Amane that he put to work for himself. If they fought soon, he wouldn’t use these skills without the need for them and he didn’t think he’d need them to take him out. He slammed his sword into its sheath and placed his hands on the ground growing a pillar of ice.

He stood up breathing sharply as he caught his breath. He was getting more powerful with each passing day. He grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat off his head. His body glistened under a covering of sweat. Toshiro continued drying off as he heard a knock on the door, a familiar presence awaiting him. He threw the towel around his neck and headed upstairs. When he arrived, he quickly brushed the loose hair out of his face and opened the door. “Nice to see you, Kitanni. What brings you here this evening?” He asked politely.

“I just came to see you.” She blushed,"  I brought you some lunch.” She smiled as she held a container in her arms.

Toshiro took the container into his own hands,"  Come on in, we can eat together.”

He set it down on the table and removed the covering. A whole cooked chicken, steamed rice, vegetables, and some bread. He was surprised at how much effort she had put into everything.

“What do you think?” She asked, waiting for his response.

“I think you deserve some praise, this looks great. I’ll get some wine to go with it.”  Toshiro said as he walked over to the cabinet. He reached in and grabbed the few remaining jugs that were left inside of it. He set it down on the table and sat back down.

“I’ve grown to like the taste of this wine over the last few months.” Kitanni said as she poured some from the jug into the glasses already set on the table. “It just reminds me of you.”

Toshiro blushed and smiled at her,"  I enjoy your company and I needed a friend after all that happened.”

“What happened to your friend, Amane?” She asked worriedly for Toshiro’s sake.

“He’s dead….to me.” Toshiro said coldly.

“What happened?” She wondered.

“He’s the reason my father is gone.” He replied. “Let’s move on from that, please?” He asked.

“As you wish, Toshi.” She responded. “I’m sorry for asking.”

“Don’t worry about it, let’s focus on your lunch.” He said faking happiness for her sake. He reached into the container and pulled the chicken out and cut it with a knife he had set on the table earlier in preparation for his lunch. Toshiro had hoped she’d stop by though.

“Toshiro.” Kitanni said in an almost whisper while looking down.

“What is it, Kitanni?” He asked.

“You don’t have to fake your happiness, I can see you’re unhappy and depressed. I’m just happy you let me into your life more.” She said with a smile.

“I’m glad you’re in it more, too.” He responded. “I know you’re just asking but I’ll tell you what happened, even if it hurts. I know you’ll be here for me.”

“You don’t have too, Toshiro.” She replied.

Toshiro exhaled and took a breath before speaking,"  He killed five civilians during the war. He didn't just kill them, he decimated them. We arrived as he decapitated one guy and without moving, using just a glance, he set the final guy on fire after he had already removed his tongue.”

“Oh my god!” Kitanni said as she was disgusted with what she was told. “I can’t believe he’d do that.”

“I thought I knew him.” Toshiro said as he picked up the chicken and ate a bite of it. “This is really good.” He quickly changed the subject to focus on her instead.

She blushed, "Thanks.” She took a bite and set down her fork. “You can trust me. I just want to help you.”

“I know.” Toshiro said with a sincere smile.

The two of them ate together and cleaned up the dishes along with the house. They spent the rest of the day getting closer and Toshiro trained her slightly in sword skills. He allowed her to use his training room as her own to practice dagger throwing. They spent several more months training together after her own training in potions for healing. He wanted her to be able to protect herself from people who wish to harm her. He didn’t want to lose another person he had gotten close to.

One morning there was a loud knock on the door. It repeated several times before the door was finally answered by Toshiro. “It’s early in the morning, what do you want?” He said sternly.

“We’ve found Amane Fuseishutsu.” The messenger said quickly.

“Where?” Toshiro asked.

“He’s in the mountains.”

“Stay here.” Toshiro said as he grabbed his jacket and put it on. Followed by placing his sword in its place on the back.

“There’s a meeting in the council chamber. I’m gathering everyone up.” The messenger stated.

“Be on your way then.” Toshiro said as he shut the door.

The messenger ran off to the next house.

Finally, Toshiro thought to himself. I’ll finish this once and for all.

He made haste to the council room where a meeting was already gathered. His eyes narrowed as he entered. “Where is he?” He demanded to know.

“There he is, Toshiro Shigekazu, glad you made it.” The general said.

“He’s in the mountains.” A new representative answered.

“We’re advocating for a search party to retrieve him. If we bring him in, we can reunite the clan again. He’ll be a fine scapegoat for our Quadrant’s peace.” The second new representative stated.

A new representative was chosen to serve alongside Sage and a substitute was chosen for Toshin. The two new guys argued for a search party to be gathered to bring Amane back. Led by the previous general who defeated Fujimoto in the final battle.

The first volunteer to bring him in was Toshiro. “I volunteer my services to the cause of bringing in Amane Fuseishutsu. We’re both elemental warriors and I think I’ll have the most chance of bringing him.” Toshiro explained.

“How have your skills come along in the past few months?” The general asked.

Toshiro covered his blade in ice as he drew it, "Steel strengthened by my cold blood. I’ll bring him in.”

“Excellent.” The general put his hand on his shoulder. “You take one team. I’ll take another. We’ll box him in.”

“Yes sir.” Toshiro responded.

Sage stood up from his chair, "You do this and you risk war with our clan, remember that.” He had become cold and angry during the last few months. Hearing about everything that happened but he still believed in Amane.

“Do you know what he did, Sage?” Toshiro asked, confused by Sage’s words.

“Killed the people who killed his mother. Civilians or not, they got what was theirs, rightfully and wrathfully. Doesn’t matter if it’s provable to you or them.” He pointed to the new representatives and the general. “I believe in Fujimoto and Amane. From what I was told Amane had lips on his forehead and streaks of blood down his face from a woman’s hand. For one, his mother was known to kiss his forehead before bed and before he left. When she passed, she was probably in his arms. Her hand on his face in a loving embrace with her child before she left him for good.” Sage replied. “That’s enough for me.”

“That’s enough, Sage.” The general added. “It doesn’t matter if it was wrong or right. For a warrior to kill civilians in town during war times is prohibited as by this whole treaty.” He held it up and showed him.

“So murder is okay with you by civilians?” Sage retorted.

“No, of course not.” The general responded.

“What about justice being served by the son?” He asked. “If it was your wife, daughter, or girlfriend. You’d all have done the same thing in or out of war times; SO DON’T GIVE ME YOUR SHIT ABOUT IT.” Sage said before he started coughing.

“Are you okay, Sage?” Toshiro asked, leaning over to him.

“I’m not, Toshiro. The night I was stabbed was hard enough but as time went on I started getting sicker. The more I try to speak about what happened, the sicker I get.” He sipped some water. “I can’t believe you though, Toshiro, you were friends.”

“We were. Until I saw what he did. I was there when he decapitated that guy. When he set another on fire. When the Cold Stare failed against him. I didn’t know who he was until then. He’s a monster.” Toshiro replied angrily about it but kept his voice calm.

“I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt, Toshiro. For your father’s sake.” Sage said as he stood up fully. “The rest of you though; if you step foot on my grounds. I’ll gut you all without a second thought.” He stared at the general. “Especially you, general.”

“Sage.” Toshiro said quietly.

He patted Toshiro’s shoulder. “Enjoy your life, Toshiro. You’re young and things are still changing for you. I wish you the best.” He smiled at him weakly. With that Sage left the council room with his small entourage who helped him get through the city in his weakened state.

“Now with him gone. Let’s get back to the task at hand.” The general stated.

“I still volunteer my services to bring him in. I can stop him cold in his tracks.” Toshiro retorted.

“I’ll gather your squad and you can lead them there. I’ll lead the other one.” The general replied.

“Sounds good to me.” Toshiro said, narrowing his eyes again and an icy mist coming off his body. “Make sure they know that he’s deadly. He won’t hesitate to kill them. We’re marching against him and he’s still at war. He won’t give up without a fight.”

“I’m hoping since we don’t need him alive, we just need his body.” The general added.

“I’ll bring him in myself, if necessary, as a cold block of ice.” Toshiro replied.

A week passed and while they knew he was in the mountains, they gathered the teams after torturing the last guy who had seen him. It seemed like he hadn’t moved much in a week. He was hunting and sharpening his skills. He was a war veteran; skilled and dangerous with swords and elemental abilities. Toshiro could no longer go easy on him. He was the most dangerous person in their Quadrant. It was going to take a large group of people to drain his stamina and bring him in.

After a few days of back and forth to the house, Kyra decided to stay in the cabin for a while. A week and a half had passed since she had been home. There was a bad feeling, in her heart, that something was about to happen. She picked up her bow and quiver then headed out to check on her swordsmen; HER swordsmen. She had grown attached to him as a subject of investigation and she cared about him as a person, after seeing him in person, as well as the dreams.

Kyra headed over to the cave from her cabin and saw him sitting there for a moment before heading in with his food. He’s still safe. She looked over towards the fields and saw a group of men coming towards this location. She could feel the cold coming from one of them. She moved further up and deeper into trees where she’d be more hidden and able to see everything.

Toshiro marched across the fields of Quadrant Three heading for his old friend. The battle was getting ready to start as soon as they arrived at the cave. They saw the markings and footprints from someone who exited and entered the cave frequently. This was clearly his base and his home.

The time had come for Amane's possible final showdown. As he finished eating inside of his cave home, he heard footsteps approaching. The rocks were pushed away as they inched closer to the opening of the cave. He reached out and lowered the fire down to nothing with just his hand. Slowly, he got up and made his way to the back of the cave where he was in complete shadow.

A voice rang out across the silence and echoed in the cave, "Amane, come out. We have the opening blocked off and there is no escape.”

Amane thought to himself, That voice sounds familiar.

“Your exile is over, old friend. This ends now.” The voice cried out.

That’s Toshiro. Amane thought to himself. He must have a small force with him. He smirked and chucked a fireball out the cave entrance. “COME AND GET ME!” Amane yelled out to him.

“Three of you; go in there and force him out.” Toshiro ordered. “The rest of you; stay with me and we’ll block the cave.”

“Yes sir.” They replied, as three guys entered into the cave holding torches so they could see.

Amane watched them closely from the back and turned the torches against them. Manipulating the already existing fire and sending it down their arms to set them ablaze. He drew his sword quickly and slashed through their bodies, before the first hit the ground. “IF THAT’S ALL YOU GOT TOSHIRO, YOU MIGHT AS WELL GO HOME.” Amane yelled to him as he sent a crescent of pure energy out of the cave, removing another two guys from the field.

“You’re strong but even you don’t have the stamina for this battle, alone.” Toshiro mocked.

“You don’t know anything about my current skill set.” Amane said harshly, while he drew his second sword and crossed them over each other and slashed diagonally down with both. “CROSS BLADE.” He shouted as his two energy crescents flew through the cave spinning.

“INVENTIVE!” Toshiro exclaimed. “Why don’t you come out here and fight me one on one?”

Amane chuckled,"  You’re not alone and I’ll pick you off one by one.” He sheathed his blades and focused his energy to set the cave entrance on fire. The two remaining guys with him were instantly set on fire as they tried entering. They flailed on the ground as the fire covered their bodies.

Toshiro’s ice counteracted it and kept him safe from harm. “You’ve gotten better with your fire but so have I with my ice. We truly are alone now.”

The fight began and she watched in awe of how skilled he actually was. The energy blades and the fire were one thing but he was also fast and strong. The group was down to one in a matter of minutes with the Swordsmen hiding out in the cave for protection.

Amane walked towards the entrance of the cave feeling that he was right...at least about this side. “I know they’re more enemies on the other side waiting for me.”

“The general that killed your father is leading the charge to bring you back. We’re reuniting the Fuseishutsu clan by bringing you in.” Toshiro responded.

“This isn’t going to change anything, Toshiro.” Amane replied, trying to get through to him.

“It’ll repair relations between your clan and that's all we can do.” Toshiro added. “You’re coming in for the murder of those civilians."

“You mean the so-called civilians who killed my mother?” Amane retorted.

“It can’t be proven; not now and not then. You’re in the wrong.” Toshiro stated.

The showdown between fire and ice was about to begin.

Toshiro called forth his ice to cover his arms and strengthen his attacks. Amane stood his ground as they stood face to face. They stared into each other’s eyes gauging each other’s strength. 

Amane smirked as he saw a cold bead of sweat trickle down Toshiro’s face. “Heat getting to you?” He asked mockingly.

“In your dreams.” Toshiro answered.

Toshiro threw a punch with his right arm but was caught at the same time Amane did the same thing, he was also caught. Their hot and cold energies created steam between their hands. Amane pulled their arms down and slung Toshiro back over him. Toshiro hit the ground hard but got up just as quick leaving a freezing hand print in the ground. He ran over as fast as he could, tackling Amane to the ground and punching him as hard as he could.

Amane’s lip was bleeding as he spit out blood and flipped Toshiro onto his back. Quickly, he punched Toshiro hard enough to cause damage but not with any heat to it. He wanted him to feel it, not be burned.

Toshiro shot an ice shard up from the ground and into Amane’s side. “I’m not playing Amane. Get serious.”

Amane jumped back removing the ice shard and cauterizing his wound with heat. “I don’t want to hurt you. You’re misguided.”

Toshiro stood up and brushed himself off. “TREAT ME AS YOUR EQUAL DAMN IT.”

He spoke calmly, "You’re not my equal.” Amane’s eyes narrowed as he disappeared from sight. Reappearing and kneeing Toshiro in the stomach and taking the wind out of him. He dropped him to the ground with a swift kick to the back. “You’ll never be my equal for as long as you oppose me, Toshiro.”

Kyra watched from a distance as this showdown began. She was truly surprised at how strong both of them were..but the Pyromancer, her swordsman, had the edge. The attacks he was taking head on weren’t bothering him, at all. He was using energy but not losing his focus. The Cryomancer was losing both, his cool exterior and his heated pride demanding him to be treated as an equal. It was clear that the swordsman didn’t want to hurt the cryomancer, but he kept pushing.

The speed at which he flipped to painful attacks was staggering like a button being pressed. The Pyromancer was done playing around, as she watched him disappear from sight. She saw him using his high speed, and kneeing the cryomancer in the stomach. Kyra blinked several times and thought to herself, How is his speed so high? I thought only Elves had that high of speed.

Toshiro struggled to get up as he was unable to breathe, for the moment.

“Just let me go, Toshiro.” Amane pleaded with him.

“My honor won’t allow it.” Toshiro yelled.

“You leave me no choice.” Amane said, as he walked to the cave wall and turned back towards him. “I’m sorry.”

Toshiro smirked and froze the dripping water on the cave around Amane’s wrists, ankles, and neck. “I am too…You were my friend.”

“I’m still your friend. YOU abandoned me.” Amane retorted in a calm anger.

“SHUT UP!" Toshiro yelled as he began wailing on him as hard as he could while Amane was against the cave wall.

The entire time Toshiro was hitting him, Amane was smirking back at him. He knew that  he could have gotten out of it at any time...but decided to let his friend grieve, in a way he thought he needed. He just kept letting Toshiro hit him. When Toshiro stopped, Amane forced himself off the wall by heating up his restraints and melting them. “I hope you found peace during that.” Amane stated, as he came off the wall.

“H-h-how did you get off?” Toshiro stammered.

“You are not my equal, Toshiro.” Amane replied as he pulled back and punched Toshiro, with a little added force from his spirit control. The punch landed hard against his cheek and jaw causing him to be knocked out in one punch.

She then watched in anger as the Cryomancer was beating him. She couldn’t see his face while this happened. When he pulled off the walls of the cave and finished, she exhaled deeply. “Thank the dragon gods.” Kyra said under her breath.

As Toshiro passed out on the ground Amane slipped a letter into his pocket and spoke to him. “I still want you to be better than I am. I know I have darkness in me and I know I can’t fight it forever. But you, you have a better chance at surviving.”

Amane placed a sword on the ground beside Toshiro; the blade was broken. This was Amane’s first sword from his father. When Fujimoto died..it broke the same day. Amane saw his father’s soul float off from a distance.

He made a run for it as fast as possible to the other side to try to make an escape but was cornered almost immediately by a large force. “Shit.” He said to himself.

“ATTACK.” The general yelled to his men.

The force came charging at him at full speed as Amane stood there watching. He was attempting to figure out how they amassed a force that big to begin with. Now realizing that he shouldn’t have let Toshiro beat him so much and ended that fight sooner. He took a breath and focused his energy to the height of his power, allowing him to move faster again. He charged his swords with energy and began attacking them from a distance, sending waves of Crescent Blades towards them, removing legs and enemies from the battlefield by the dozen. His skills had increased several times over since he last saw anyone, but using his skills like this was tiring. He made a run for it trying to avoid enemies and cutting down others.

Kyra kept pace with him, as he ran from the cave and was cornered taking out some of them as he did so. Continuing for forty minutes in the trees while following his path she saw him at the border with a few guys left able to hear every word. Amane was tiring out from his fight with Toshiro and using abilities. He stared into the forest of Quadrant Two and heard voices.

This is my only option. He thought as he hid behind a tree.

“Guys, he ran into the woods.” One guy shouted.

“Go get him then.” Another replied.

“We can’t go in there; that’s elven territory. They’ll kill us on sight if we enter.” A third stated.

“Just go to where he is and drag him back.” The first said.

Lucky me. Amane thought to himself trying to catch his breath. “Focus. Focus” He said quietly while trying to charge his attack and move himself. As he did so he fell into the mud. The exhaustion had finally gotten to him.

“There he is.” The first guy stated, loudly. “Let’s get him and kill him.”

Kyra began speaking in a soft, stern voice from the trees but was unseen,"  Who are you to be stepping into my forest?”

“We’re only after the boy. He’s caused a lot of trouble.” The first man stated.

“You’re causing the forest a lot of trouble with your murderous emotions. Get out, now.” She spoke more sternly than before.

“Just let me grab him and we’ll be on our way.” The second retorted.

“LEAVE. NOW. He isn’t harming the forest, YOU ARE.” She replied.

“Or what?” The first guy responded.

An arrow came flying out of the trees at high speed and piercing the man’s hand, pinning him to a tree. Followed by several more arrows pinning him fully to the tree. His hands, his thighs, and his feet all pierced by elven arrows.

“Let’s get out of here!” The second guy replied.

“Yeah. I don’t want to fight the whole forest.” The third guy said with a scared and shaky voice.

After they had disappeared from view and the first guy bled out from his wounds, she came down and spoke to Amane directly. “You’re still alive.”

“Thanks to you…” Amane said with a quick smile from his mud covered face. He passed out on the ground, immediately after thanking her.

A sigh of relief escaped her lips as she watched him rest in the mud. She reached down and pulled his face out of it before leaning him against a tree. I’m glad that you’re safe. You wouldn’t understand why I feel this way but you had me worried more than I can actually explain to you.