The Flame's Shadow

The first meeting of The Swordsman and The Scout

Months had passed since Toushiro and Maeya had separated to better themselves. He has spent this time alone, performing small task for traveling money as he wandered from village to village. He never told anyone his name, only going by Yukai as it had become a code name of sorts during his work as a mercenary. Not a night passed without him reliving the destruction of his home. The village of Hara had provided him and his kind sanctuary when they most needed it and now its inhabitants are dead. Toushiro blamed himself for what had happened, even though he knew deep down no one else did. Though he had managed to defeat and leave the traitorous Marasai for dead, he found no joy in achieving revenge. Marasai may have been the one to commit the murders, However, Toushiro felt the blood was on his hands to for failing to stop him sooner. The only thing that kept him going and keeping to the plan of bettering himself, was Kairi's final words to him. He would honor her memory and use his training to prevent another tragedy. 

Many nights would pass with him failing to sleep, so rather than sit and stare needlessly at the sky and dwell on the past, he would train. Most times he would train his body to the point of exhaustion and near collapse, though he would spend time on training his mind and his awareness. He began to notice that through his mental training he was better able to sense threats and other signs of life around him. This provided him with better combat awareness. As a result he began to learn which villagers were safer to visit before stepping to far into their borders. His travels lead him to a thick forest, and though he sensed hostility from within he figured it was safer than than most villages in the area. Toushiro took a deep breath and entered the forest. Once inside his mind was on fire. So much life and various sentient thoughts bombarded him he was alomst overwhelmed. He had to take moment to sort it all out, he was no stranger to sensing life and even harm but he had reached some new level and he was not accustomed to it. 

After what seemed like hours of travel he was deep in the heart of the forest. No matter which way he looked he could not see any signs of the outside. Deciding he need to rest be propped himself up against a tree and took out some rations. As he began to eat he was sensed a hostile presence. At first he thought it was a predator seeking prey, but as he began to focus more on the feeling he found it to be aimed at him. Just as he began to stand up he heard a sound on the wind rushing at him. As he dodged he heard a loud thud as a knife embedded itself into the wood of a tree behind him. He looked out ot the corner of his eye at the weapon ony to see it was not the usual style of throwing knives he or his former companions utilized. Infact it seemed foreign to this region, yet somehow familiar to him. The blade was black in color and almost triangular, the handle was not squared like his own but rather rounded with simple linen binding tied as a grip. The blade ended in a small metal loop, and he was sure he had never seen this style before other than in a book, he was sure of that. His thoughts were interrupted as he heard another whisk towards him. This time rather than dodging it completely the knife nicked his shoulder slightly before traveling passed his and into the same tree. Toushiro cursed and opened up his senses he had to find his assailant now and worry about the origin of their weapons later.

After a few moment he found his attacker in the trees, though they did not remain still. It seemed they were moving quickly from tree to tree trying to find a vantage point from which to strike. He could only sense their killer intent, he could not see them as they stuck to the shadows. Toushiro knew he would need to end this quickly, as the sun was beginning to set and the enemy seemed to use the shadows. If that was the case the night would render them near invisible. "I know you are in the trees. Show yourself and fight me like a honorable warrior." Toushiro tried to call out to his attacker but doubted it would work. Sure enough a arrogant laugh sounded form the trees. "Why would I do such a foolish thing. You are clearly a strong warrior, and judging form the katana on your belt a skilled swordsman. I have the advantage where I stand and refuse to give it up." Toushiro chuckled a bit at the attackers response. "Fair enough I suppose. Though at least answer a few questions if you do not mind. First why are you attacking me, have I wronged you in some manner. I would advise you to answer carefully, I have no tolerance to deal with greed nor disrespect." The forest grew silent for a while, and just as Toushiro began to think he would not receive his answer, the attacker responded. "If you must know I attacked you cause you have trespassed on my forest."

Toushiro raised an eyebrow at the answer. "Your forest? Strange I figured this was public domain as it sit upon a major roadway. Tell me is you village near by. I am no stranger to protecting ones home." Once more a laugh sounded from the trees this time however the voice seemed to come from behind him. "No village, all of this forest is my home and I will not allow any to enter with out my permission." Toushiro sighed and drew his sword. "You must exhaust yourself being so foolish all the time. If you want to live alone with no threats or hindrance to your life you should have chosen a better home. This forest is not well known for its isolation after all." This seemed to anger his attacker as the only response was flurry of knives being thrown at his and an angry snarl as they attacked. Toushiro swiped his sword before him and knocked all but one knife form the air. The last one he caught and inspected it. "Ah yes I thought i had read about this type of knife before. It is called a Kunai if I recall right. It hails from a land far to the east, as does my Katana. You must be from the same region of the world as I, which means given your weapon of choice you must be a Shinobi. Rare sight in this area but interesting just the same." There was moments of stunned silence and Toushiro laughed. "Oh my, seems I hit the nail on the head. You should have ended my life when you had the chance, now I know your tricks. You can not win this fight, so I suggest you retreat and let me leave this place. I was merely passing through I will not invade your privacy any more than I have."

To show he meant what he said Toushiro sheathed his weapon and stood there with his arms raised. However the response was not what he had hoped. "You call me foolish yet you lower your guard. If you are indeed form my homeland you know that means death when dealing with a Shinobi." Once more the forest fell silent and Toushiro heard the sound of a sword being drawn. "You will not leave this forrest alive, foolish swordsman." At that moment a rustling of leaves sound behind Toushiro and he stepped to the side as the Shinobi rushed passed him with a shocked expression on his face. Without wasting a moment, Toushiro reared back and back handed the Shinobi. The attack sent the fighter flying into a nearby tree. Toushiro using his superior speed clsoed in on the Shinobi and drew his sword once more. He lightly pressed the tip against the Shinobi's neck. "Stand down, and I swear on my honor I will spare you. I have no quarrel with you." After a few moments the Shinobi agreed and Toushiro began to gather his belongings.

 "Tell me your name Swordsman. I at least deserve to know the name of the warrior who hails from my homeland and bested me this day."  Toushiro turned and looked intently at the warriors of the shadows. He could tell he no longer wished to fight him. "Very well, the name is Toushiro. Though most call me Yukai. What about you?" The fighter looked at him for a moment and nodded. "Indeed a name of my land, mine is Virgil though I also go by Merc." Toushiro flashed a smile at Virgil. This was not a half hearted smile like he had been giving people these last few months but an honest and warm smile like those from his happy days  before he lost everything. "See you around Virgil." Once his gear was secured he started to leave only to feel Virgil's hand on his shoulder. When he turned to look at Virgil he saw what appeared to be an illusion dropping and and he say black fox ears, and three black fox tails. "You do not have to leave yet, Toushiro. I was curious if you would train me some. I may be a shinobi but I lack speed and perception." Toushiro laughed almost hysterically. "Don't tell me you are lonely here, Little Ninja. Sure I will keep you company for awhile. Beside it will be good to be among my own kind for a while. Just know the day will come when I must reunite with my friends and lover." This was the beginning of a long and lasting friendship, though neither knew it yet. This was only the start of a journey that would turn the flame and the shadow into two of the most influential members of their race.

Author's Note

Sorry for the long hiatus I kind of struggled with this one for a bit. I hope you all like it.

Reviews

[Malister Mikey]

I enjoyed the way you wrote this I felt like I was there. Thought it was neat that the two despite fighting were willing to end up becoming friends from the endeavor. You used good detail in describing the knife seeing I like a lot of detail that was a plus for me. The swordsman was a character I had immediately took a liking to from the very first part of your writings. Well done my friend.

[Miss Jenca]

XD I like stories like this, where you just kinda randomly make a friend. It just makes me happy, and given the timeline, this almost counts as fluff.

[KeithKVH]

Good to see more swordsman stories from you! You know, maybe I missed the description of him or have yet to read one of the shorts that really describes him, but I didn't realize The Scout was a shinobi. I had a different image of him, and didn't realize it was him until I noticed the short description. It's actually pretty neat, and this is a great meeting for the two as well, forming a bond of respect through facing off in combat with each other. Very good story!

There is a pair of paragraphs that look like it needs a space between them. Also, I did go through and gather together some grammar/spelling points I spotted. I would say most of them look like they're probably due to the keyboard issues I hear your home's computer has. If you're interested in them, just let me know and I can PM them or add them in a comment.

[Arrinae]

The spelling errors are from his selecting dyslexia. The bad work computer is across the ocean where I'm still currently located. I'm encouraging him to continue his work.

[Shinigami of Chaos]

Thank you for your review Keith, I am glad you enjoyed this one. I really struggled with how to start this one, and settled on what I wrote here. As for the confusion on the scout, the way we envisioned the character he always fancied himself as a self made shinobi, however he was confused on the meaning what a Shinobi truly was. He started off fine but as we will show later he will start trying to over extend his abilities and try to hard to be a front line fighter yet try to be stealthy that it will be his downfall. About the errors i noticed a few after reading your review but if you wish i would appreciate if you could point out what you saw in case i still over looked them then I will make the needed edits.