The Red Fox [Original]

Chapter 22 - A Lone Ember within the Darkness

A pair of hopeful and content ocean blue eyes opened to find, within their vision the figures of three people, people whom he loved with all of his heart. There was an old man, wearing a blue kimono with white clouds decorating it in its entirety, a plain black shirt underneath, along with black, baggy trousers with the shin, down to the ankle being protected through extra padding, and wore his iconic red tengu mask, his white hair short and straight.

Said man was currently helping a young girl, roughly aged around 14, who wore a red yukata with a pink and white flower dot pattern, on top of this she wore a sleeveless black haori with a piece of brown fabric holding this all together. Her pale complexation contrasted her light cyan eyes, showing immense determination but an underlining immense kindness within, with her short black hair, messy and dirty through her training. She was currently holding a wooden katana was panting heavily as she faced her sensei, who stood unfazed and patient in front of his student.

His observations were cut short by a sudden, sharp pain in the back of his head as something forced his head to the ground. After a few moments, he looked to see a young boy around his age who wore a green yukata, patterned with a geometric hexagon design of yellow and a darker green, with a pair of hakama pants with a plain white haori completing the boy's attire. The boy himself had a greyish lavender pair of eyes with a long scar running from his right ear to his mouth covering his right cheek, all of this being accompanied by his longer peach coloured hair which fell into bangs along with it reaching his neck.

Said boy had withdrawn his wooden katana and stood in a posture, as ready for another round of sparring, as he sat up and looked at his legs to find them covered in dirt, much to his distaste. He wore black and white yukata, black for the trouser and white for his shirt, with a red haori tied tightly around his torso. He proceeded to get, with more determination than before as he readied himself, with his wooden katana in hand as he and the boy clashed again.

They clashed wooden bladed again and again, neither scoring any decisive strike on the other until he heard their sensei call for them to end their spar and come on home, with the order given the two quickened their pace to the point where the peach haired boy took in a large intake of oxygen as an endless ocean of determination was projected through his eyes.

'Water Style, First Form, Water Surface Slash'

As water erupted from the boy's wooden katana as the speed amplified itself much time over, but that was not was stooping him from blocking the attack. His body froze at the sight of such an attack, bringing along with his temporary paralysis a searing headache. All of this resulted in the attack hitting him in the head, although the attack was pulled out of when the boy knew it would land as to not hurt his friend.

The attack itself launched himself a couple of meters back, hitting a tree in the process and making him collapse to the ground, clutching his head in discomfort. To this end, the peach haired boy approached him and crouched down to him. "Are you okay Giyu, this isn't normally like you to lose in that way," The boy asked in concern, to which Giyu widen his eyes a little at the voice of the boy.

It took a few moments for Giyu to blink again and when he did his eyes changed. No longer were the innocent, naïve eyes of a child but now the eyes of a hardened veteran, one who'd experienced the loss of all those close to him. This sudden change made the boy lose his balance and fall over sitting across from his long term friend. "Giyu... Are you okay?" He asked hesitantly, as Giyu simply look at him with a face of no emotion.

Suddenly, however, Giyu was enveloped in a pillar of water, covering his entire body. At this sudden cause for alarm, the peach haired boy screamed out for Giyu, as if thinking he was going to die. All of this noise and delay had also gotten the attention of their sensei and the young girl, whom they were friends with, and had just arrived at the pillar of water along with the young boy looked dejected at he stared, frozen at the water in front of him.