"Alright, play a little bit and then come back. We are having your favorite tonight!" Satarou's foster mother, Lisa, called out to him, smiling. She was rubbing her stomach. She has been pregnant with a little boy for four months.
Little eight-year-old Satarou grinned widely as he played in the sand, building a castle. Very focused and happily, he finished the last touches on his sand castle.
He turned to Lisa and her husband, Masato, and gave them the biggest grin they've seen in their life from anyone, "Look mommy, daddy, I built a castle! We can live in it and be happy and everyone will love us!"
"Yes, honey. Now come on, let's go inside and eat" Lisa smiled fondly at her adopted child. The truth was, she didn't get him from an orphanage. He was found abandoned and bloody on the beach. He was no older than the age of two. He had washed up ashore in front of her house, and she thought it was fate that brought this beautiful child to her and her husband.
"Yes, mommy!" Satarou called out with glee and skipped over to her. He was so happy to follow them inside. In fact, he was just happy to have a family. He wasn't always that way, though. It took him two years after being found before he would even speak to them. They had known he had been abandoned, but to this day, they don't know why he had been really bloody when he was washed up. They don't know how he survived that, either. Satarou doesn't remember a thing about it, but they thought it was a miracle he had made it out alive and washed up ashore right in front of their house.
All three of them sat at the table, eating chicken with a side of home-made fries and freshly grown greenbeans.
"This food is so good!" Satarou declared, "I want to cook, too!"
That caused his foster father, Masato, to laugh. "Alright, alright. You can help your mother with dinner tomorrow, then."
Sure enough, the next day Satarou was helping his mother in the kitchen.
"Alright, dear, will you wash these potatoes for me?"
Satarou's eyes lit up at the question. The corners of his lips tugged upwards in a grin, "yes, mommy!" With so much enthusiasm, he dipped a rag into the bucket full of water and began to wipe the potatoes clean. "All done!"
Lisa laughed. "That's very good to hear, dear. Will you cut them up for me?"
"Yes, yes, yes!" Satarou said excitedly, beginning to chop up the potatoes just as enthusiastically.
"Be careful not to cut yourself, dear!" Lisa smiled.
"Mommy, I won't!" Satarou kept his eyes focused on the potatoes, being careful not to cut himself by accident.
Masato chose that moment to enter the room, his eyes filling with joy at the sight of his son and wife making dinner together. "Don't hurt yourself, kiddo" he told Satarou.
"Daddy!" Satarou pouted cutely, "I'm not a baby! I won't hurt myself!"
Masato laughed. "I know you aren't a baby, kiddo."
It wasn't much longer until they finished cooking dinner, Lisa and Masato teasing little Satarou the whole time.
The three of them sat in the dinner room, chatting happily as always.
Eight months has passed with Lisa teaching Satarou how to cook the whole time. He now has a three-month-old brother named Yui.
"Satarou, dear! Will you go to the store to get me some tomatoes!" Lisa called, smiling, "can you take Yui, too? He would love some fresh air."
"Yes, mommy" Satarou told her. He picked up little Yui and walked out of the house towards the supermarket. It was common for him to take Yui to the supermarket when he had to buy ingredients for dinner. Lisa wasn't worried since the crime rate in their small, sandy village was very low; the worst of the crimes being littering.
Satarou entered the supermarket with a happy Yui on his shoulders. He went to the foodstand he wanted, and grabbed a few tomatoes out of a basket. He handed them to the lady behind the table that was located behind the food baskets.
"Hey, Satarou" the lady smiled. It wasn't uncommon to know everybody in town, plus Satarou came often to buy ingredients for Lisa. "And hello to you little Yui."
Yui clapped happily in greeting, giggling. The lady, Marsha, wrapped up the tomatoes and Satarou handed her the coins needed for them. He pocketed the rest of the change.
A moment later, Satarou heard a blood-curdling scream. He felt chills run down his spine, and he was frozen with fear when he realized the screams came from the direction his house was in.
"Oh dear, what was that?" Marsha frowned.
"M-m-mommy!" Satarou yelled. Still clutching the tomatoes, he began running towards the house, making sure Yui didn't fall off his shoulders. From the outside, his house still appeared to be fine. Nothing seemed to be off. Yet, Satarou was still stiff with fear. Yui was crying loudly as well. Without another word, Satarou finally opened the door, his fingers shaking as he opened it. He was frozen with fear. There was blood all over the floor and the walls. His father, Masato, was right in front of the door. His head had been cut off and had rolled a little bit away. Satarou's eyes were brought to a man. He was holding his sword and was about to stab it through Lisa.
"M-Mommy!" Satarou screamed as loud as he can. The man turned to face him, just as his blood-covered mother did.
"S-Satarou" she gasped, "run! Please, keep Yui safe..!"
"Mother! Don't go! I need you!" Satarou cried.
"I beg you, keep him safe! Stay safe, both of you! You are both my world!" Lisa cried, knowing she was about to die, "Remember, I will always love you both!"
"Shut up!" the man screamed and pierced the sword straight through her chest. Blood flew and it landed on the man, Satarou and Yui. But Satarou didn't care. All he cared about was his mother.
"Mother!" he screamed. The man laughed sadistically as he faced the two kids. Satarou's eyes widened and he glared at the man, "you monster! You killed my family!" Tears were streaming down Satarou's eyes, but he didn't care. He just wanted his family back.
"I know, I should probably kill you both now, but I only came for your parents. Besides, it will be much more fun to watch you suffer" the crazy man continued his evil laughing as Satarou glared at him. "I am Casper, now remember that!" The man had large, black fluffy feathered wings, and at once, Satarou knew his parent's murderer was an Angel. He couldn't comprehend why an Angel of all supernaturals would want to kill his family.
"I will get my revenge!" Satarou yelled at Casper's retreating form, "I will get my revenge and then you will regret mocking me on my parents grave! Just you watch!"
Casper turned back to face Satarou and smirked mockingly, "I look forward to that day. Don't disappoint me, kiddo." And with that, Casper flew off into the cold starry night, the dim glow of the stars lighting up the sky.
Satarou held Yui close to his chest, and cried more as he watched his parents bloody and lifeless forms. He had clutched the tomatoes in his hands so hard that they were smushed. They had long been forgotten about. Satarou dropped the smushed tomatoes onto the floor, not even caring about them anymore. He knelt down to his mother's lifeless form, tears still leaking out.
"I'm sorry I couldn't save you mommy, daddy" Satarou whispered to the air as Yui still cried, "I promise, I will protect Yui with all my life. He is all that I have now. I will make you guys proud, I promise!"
Satarou took in a deep breath.
"I promise that I will protect you, Yui" Satarou hugged the boy. Satarou grabbed a bag and stuffed a few things in there. The first thing he stuffed in was Yui's teddy bear. Yui would want something from his mother, and that is Yui's favorite teddy bear. The next thing Satarou put in was a blanket for Yui. He packed a few cans of fruit and grabbed all of the money he could get. He grabbed a pack of matches, and a few knives, and decided that was all he would need to pack.
Satarou was about to leave when he looked at his mother once more. Lastly, he decided he needed something to remember her by. He unclasped her necklace, quickly wiped it off, and then clasped it around his own neck. It was his mother's favorite necklace, and he wanted to keep it with him. He also knew that he would never forget about his revenge. From this day onward, he would live only for Yui and getting his revenge. Nothing else.
It's been a few months. Satarou and Yui have been staying in a forest far away. Currently, Yui was hiding in some bushes, sleeping soundly. Satarou was a werewolf, and he had switched into his wolf form and was hunting nearby so they could eat.
There was rustling nearby from other than Yui, and Satarou growled, already getting into his defence. He would not let anything happen to Yui if his life depended on it.
Shortly after, he saw a little puppy come forth. Satarou paused for a moment. It wasn't just a puppy, he decided. Upon closer inspection, he realize that the creature was actually a hybrid between a wolf and a tiger. Satarou pounced on the creature, making sure it was pinned. The creature yelped, but let Satarou keep him pinned.
"What's your name?" Satarou growled. In all honesty, he had no intention in killing a puppy, but he figured fear would get him talking. And with Satarou being a werewolf, he could at least understand what the other canines were saying.
"L-Lightning" the puppy kept eye contact. He didn't dare break eye contact.
"Can you hunt, little pup?" Satarou demanded.
"N-No" Lightning said, "I can't hunt."
"Where is your family?" Satarou asked.
"I don't know" Lightning said, "I woke up a few weeks ago, and they were gone. My brothers and sisters were gone, too. I don't know what happened to them."
Satarou's eyes softened. "Alright then. I lost almost all of my family, too. All I have left now is my brother. Come with me and I will teach you how to hunt." Satarou got off of Lightning.
Lightning and Satarou spent days hunting together. Lightning was a quick learner. Yui had warmed up to Lightning quickly, too. They were growing as a family fast, too. That lasted about three months until one day, a strange man showed up.
Satarou always stayed as a wolf unless he was cooking so Yui could eat. He growled at the strange man.
"Relax, Satarou" the man said. Satarou was on more edge knowing that the man seemed to know his name. "I know you are a werewolf, and I also know what happened to your family, too. I came here to train you to fight."
Satarou growled louder, bearing his teeth.
"Oh, I know you can fight, Satarou. I meant that, I would teach you to learn to fight outside of your wolf form, too" the man said, "I am Majarok. I am a ninja. I am trained with swords and the bow and arrow, too. I can also teach you how to ride a horse. I know about your brother, too. I can provide you and Yui with some shelter and food for as long as you need if you take my offer."
With that, Satarou shifted back. He was naked coming out of his shift, and he had shredded his only pair of clothing when he shifted the first time months ago. Well, he did have his mother's favorite kimono with him, but it was much too big for him, plus he couldn't risk anything happening to it. So it remained in his bag until the day he could finally wear it came.
"Fine, teach me to be a ninja, too! Teach me how to protect my brother with everything that I have!" Satarou demanded.
Majakrok laughed. "I will do better than that, child. I will teach you how to disguise yourself and fool everybody. I will teach you how to be an undercover ninja. You will learn the sword. You may even learn how to use the bow and arrow if you wish. After we are done, you may know how to protect yourself with everything at your disposal. Do you accept my offer?"
"I accept" Satarou said.
"But, Satarou, what about me?" Lightning spoke. Satarou was the only one who could understand him since he is a werewolf.
"Wait!" Satarou frowned, "allow Lightning to come, too!"
Majarok looked over to Lightning. "Are you lightning? Alright, I will let you come."
Majarok and Satarou trained for years. Once Yui was old enough, he also learned how to defend himself. Satarou is now seventeen. Lightning had left them a few years ago as he wanted to try searching for his family again.
"You are now a brilliant swordsmen, archer, and you make a great ninja. What would you think of joining a clan, you and your brother?"
"What do you think, Yui?" Satarou smiled at his nine-year-old brother.
"Will it help us get closer to who killed mommy and daddy?" Yui asked.
"It might certainly help" Satarou patted his brother on the head.
"Then let's do it" Yui said matter-of-factly.
"Then i've arranged for you to join Bloodstone" Majarok stated, "take Winnie with you."
Winnie was the horse that Satarou had learned to ride. When Majarok was done giving directions to where the Bloodstone clan was currently located, the two brothers headed to one of the familiar stalls. Satarou spotted a black and white speckled horse. It had a blond white mane and tail, and blue eyes.
Satarou saddled the horse and smiled, "hello, Winnie. Want to take us for a ride?" Satarou hopped on and then gave Yui a hand up. "Hold on tight, Yui!" After that, the horse began to run in the direction that they were headed.
Satarou had his bows and arrows strapped to his back, and his sword was strapped to his side. He was all ready to go. Joining this clan would be one step closer to getting his revenge, and he knew the nine long years he had spent would be worth it.
"Here we come, Bloodstone. I look forward to what you might bring" Satarou whispered as Winnie galloped into the horizon, the stars shining and lighting their path to the Bloodstone Clan.