[i]Previously, in Broken Honor…[/i] Lothric and Nil dragged Sensei Joker over to one of the cells and locked him inside while Jain and Aku threw Arte in another cell. Their captors had not bothered to untie Sensei Joker from his binds nor Arte from hers. It seemed they would have to wait with only their own shadows for company. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Together, Rysko and Ichiro stumbled toward the Elder’s house, weak from the adrenaline leaving their bodies. The door flew open before they ever reached it, and a familiar figure rushed out, crying out something unintelligible as Rysko’s body slumped forward. Darkness covered his vision once again. [i]A few hours later…[/i] Rysko awoke groggily in a dimly lit room. He shook his head slowly as he sat up from the bed, looking to clear his senses. For a blessed moment, he couldn’t remember what had happened that made him black out. Then, the rush of memories flooded back in, and Rysko felt true, soul-crushing failure. He hadn’t been capable enough to save his friends, much less the people who had given their lives to see him escape. As tears brimmed in his eyes, a pair of warm, gentle arms wrapped themselves around him, and Rysko keenly noticed for the first time that he was not alone in this small, candlelit room. Velta Lunae used a hand to gently brush her son’s tears away. “All is not lost, little one. You are still blessed to have your own family. Remember who you are.” Rysko’s mother gently cradled her son back and forth in smooth, slow motions. A quiet moment passed as the boy slowly pulled himself together, his eyes gazing up at Velta once he did. “I failed her, Mother… We beat that lightning user together, but when it counted, I couldn’t do anything….” Rysko returned his mother’s embrace, clinging desperately to his last semblance of light. The small family soon lost their sense of the passage of time. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After a while, Rysko and his mother exited the guest room where Rysko had been resting for the rest of the night. In the open common room outside the guest room, the dawn’s light peeked in through the windows. Of the different mentors present, Rysko recognized Sensei Quilong, Sensei Pancecé, Sensei Ravvyn, Sensei Varvatos, and Sensei Ishmael, together with Rysko’s fellow trainees: Ichiro, Anchius, Myxilor, and Sky. Additionally, Rysko recognized Phoenix, Michael, Ringivek, and Artemis among the hunters who were present. The rest of the hunters, aside from Clyde and Joker, were out gathering food and cleaning traps for the village’s daily food. Even though there had been a massive attack on the village, “life moves ever onward.” That was the Elder’s famous line. Similarly, the farmers and crafters of the village were away performing their duties to keep the village running. Unfortunately, nobody had seen Sensei Dionysius, Joker, or Adam since the attack. It was difficult to accept, but the more probable reason for their absences were their deaths or capture. The Elder, once seeing Velta Lunae return from retrieving her son, nodded once, and smiled encouragingly at the boy at her side before looking around the room at the rest of the people there. “My heart cannot mourn for enough hours to grieve our loss of Dionysius, Joker, or the boy Adam. However, as the cruel fates so dictate, the world must spin on. We must face this new threat before us who seems to threaten and kill our people for his own gain. Sensei Ishmael… I am given to understand that you have something to share?” A newer Sensei stepped forward. Ishmael was tall, with a dark countenance. He was always serious, always grim, and never pulled his punches, whether verbally or physically. The trainees under him learned fast, but were also under one of the hardest Sensei at the academy. He peered directly at Rysko for a brief moment, seeming to contemplate something, before looking back at the Elder and giving a respectful bow. “Elder, I know that you and the other Sensei here understand my affinity, but for the sake of the students here who are less aware, what I am about to say requires me to explain my affinity first. I was born with the gift of prophecy - not unlike our very own Myxilor’s gift. However, the student can only see a small window in time, and only relative to the present. My affinity is much less stable. While I can see the future, much of it is clouded in mystery and many different interpretations, and the prophecies only come to me in the dream world, so it is difficult to ascertain their true meaning. A future that is only a few seconds ahead is much more stable than a future that is years, perhaps decades, ahead of our own time. With that being said, I shall do my best to explain a possible reason for this group’s attack and subsequent kidnapping of Arte.” The room seemed to gain a hush from Ishmael’s brief pause. It was held in an anticipating silence as the Sensei took a deep breath, recalling his dreams as best he could. “Far into the future, our village here will burn and be nothing but ash and ruins. This destruction, as far as I can tell, is unavoidable. We’ve already seen some of it, yet we are recovering. This tells me that the worst is yet to come. However, there is a sliver of hope. A small number of us, I cannot yet tell how many, will survive. Those few will become shapers of this world’s fate, moving events that span multiple worlds. One of those few will be a Half-Elf, and this Half-Elf will hold a key ability to open a gate to another world. That world is not desolate or barren. It is like a paradise, and the people already there roam the world in eternal peace. I do not know what this can mean, but it is possible that our enemy, Cmirg, has also heard this prophecy from another source, and if that has happened, it is likely he has more details than I.” ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [quote] Ronin, Mirage, and Jade had made camp among the ruins of the village by this point in Ronin’s tale. They were huddled up against the two remaining walls of the Elder’s residence, finding safety in the corner so that they were not exposed on all sides. As luck would have it, a roof extended partially over this corner, so they were protected from the rain as well. Ronin took a deep breath, his throat hurting slightly after telling such a long story. Mirage was still awake, holding a blanket around herself as she sat bundled up next to the small campfire. Her eyes betrayed the bright light of curiosity, however, as she looked around the village once more. “Wow… This place was once your home…. And that prophecy you mentioned, some of it has already come true, hasn’t it?” Ronin nodded his head slowly, furrowing his brow as he drew back his wet hood, warming up beside the fire himself. He had not yet taken off his equipment, nor was he likely to. His years of working as a field ranger, operating out in the wilds and making sure to keep civilization safe, had taught him to never let his guard down for even a moment. “With my forays into the Deep, it stands to reason that the part of the prophecy speaking about ‘moving events that will span multiple worlds’ has already come to fruition. However, I’m no closer to finding whatever key ability I’m supposed to have than I was all those years ago.” With a sigh, he leaned back against the aging wall. He closed his eyes and laid his head back against his clasped hands. The rain was a soothing sound, familiar and comforting. He was born of storms, and to storms he will always belong. “You should get some rest, Mirage. Don’t want to stay up too late and be exhausted tomorrow.” Mirage nodded cheerfully as she curled up next to the dimming flames, closing her eyes as well. The three party members took their rest quietly, awaking to see the sunfire dawn of the next day. [/quote]