Ninja Story

              “When you think of fire, it’s easy to conjure up thoughts of something that can easily warm you, but simultaneously can easily destroy you. It lights the night, but can create black smoke to obscure your vision. In fact, you can see the light from a flame smaller than your hand from over a mile away. It truly is a fascinating thing to look into.”                Matthew’s eyes themselves seemed to light up as he explained this element to them. And although Jen and Cathy knew that he was giving them a lesson, they could also tell how passionate he was about this subject, and it made sense to them why he had chosen this element for his own.                “But, you see,” he continued, “the concept that drives this element actually doesn’t come from the properties of fire itself. Rather, the thing that can really take it to incredible heights actually comes from within ourselves.”                A thoughtful look came over Matthew’s face, as if he was trying to figure out how to continue his explanation. At the same time, Cathy and Jen were intrigued at the statement of how the driving force behind fire abilities actually came from within humans.                After a brief moment, Matthew continued to speak.                “I want you to think about something. When you find something that you really want to do or have, and I mean you really, really, REALLY want this, how do you feel? It almost feels like your body gets hot, right? And the more that you want something, the hotter you feel, right?”                The two students nodded slowly, with rapt attention etched on their faces.                “And even when you see truly driven people that are accomplishing great things, so much so that it seems the forces of nature itself just seem to get out of their way, what is it that we say about those individuals? ‘They’re on fire.’”                Matthew could see a glimmer of understanding coming through the faces of the two girls as they were beginning to grasp what he was getting at.                “You see, that’s the thing about fire. The thing that drives this element is, in a word, drive itself. Your own drive fuels the flames. And if you were to make it even simpler, then you could say this: the one thing that makes fire strong, possibly even stronger than any of the other elements… is desire.”                At Matthew’s words, Jen and Cathy seemed to light up as well. They could understand.                “The reason why fire could very well be the strongest of the elements is because of just two simple truths. The first is that desire can simply become stronger, and it will continue to run deeper. Desire can take over a person’s entire being. And even then, there really is no limit to its heights. And so, the more you want something, the stronger you become.”                As Jen and Cathy looked on, waves of heat seemed to emanate from Matthew, like that of a heat mirage in a desert. And for just a second, they both seemed to smell something burning, even as a small bead of sweat ran down each of their necks. But, it quickly disappeared, and everything seemed normal once again, and Matthew seemed normal once again as well. For reasons neither one of them could explain or even understand, all of this unsettled them, and in the back of their minds, a slight twinge of fear came and passed.                “The second truth is this. Desire itself is unquenchable. It will continue to burn without restraint, unless you restrain it yourself, or if you yourself quench it. Nobody can quench it, but you.”                A bit of awe struck the two of them as they heard Matthew complete his explanation of the fiery element. It became no wonder to them why he would describe it as the strongest of the elements. But still, as fascinating as the information was, that was not the initial question that Cathy had asked.                A moment passed as Matthew grew silent after his explanation. Jen and Cathy simply waited, not really knowing what to say. Andrew had lain out on the ground, his massive bulk looking up at the sky and its passing clouds.                “You had asked earlier why I don’t use my fire more often. I could tell you about the grand tale of Kisasi warriors who don’t show everything that they’ve got right from the start, how withholding information about yourself can give you an edge in battle. But, that would only be partially right. The truth is that if I were to fully cut loose with all of the flames that I have within me, then it could be very dangerous.”                For the first since they had met Matthew, they saw a look on his face that not many people, except those close to him, had ever seen. It was the look of a troubled man, conflicted.                “Put bluntly, if I were to leave my unchecked drive and desire alone, then it could cause my flames to go out of control and do much harm. And put more bluntly, you could say that I CAN’T cut loose with my flames for that very same reason. As it is now, although you two call me master… I am no true master.”                An awkward silence came over the group as Matthew looked down at the ground in front of them. Jen and Cathy looked at each other and then looked at Matthew again, looked back at each other, and then looked at Andrew, who now seemed to be sleeping where he had lain down.                “You know, master,” Cathy said, “I don’t know what makes you say that, but even if you don’t believe yourself to be a master, you’ve taught us quite a lot.”                Matthew looked up.                “That’s true,” Jen said. “I mean, even when we first met you, even while we were attacking you, you were still giving us instructions and telling us how we had messed up. If that’s not a good teacher, then I don’t know what is.”                A small chuckle came from Matthew. He breathed in, and then breathed out. He clapped his hands together, and leaned back once more.                “Thank you for that. Sorry for that moment of gloom and doom. I didn’t mean it to come out that way, although it really made it sound bad. I guess it’s my way of saying that even your teacher has some areas that he feels he is still lacking in.”                Jen and Cathy let themselves smile. Matthew was back to his normal self, again.                “So, why was it that you asked me that, Cathy? Sure, I was able to continue the explanation, but I hadn’t even finished.”                “Well, the reason I asked was since I can’t use water, I just figured that maybe I could learn fire, instead.”                “Ah, I see…”                Matthew nodded, understanding Cathy’s predicament. It was quite true. For some reason, Cathy was completely unable to use the water element. Something was inhibiting her from doing so.                However…                “You know, when it comes to me and Andy, our respective elements of fire and earth were not the first elements that we learned.”                He smiled as he was seemingly remembering something from long ago.                “Just like how Isla de Tormenta focused on water abilities, our family maintained a focus on a particular element as well.”                Cathy seemed a bit confused at Matthew’s response. It sounded like he was dodging her question.                But, he continued.                “Our family has a tendency of being nomadic by nature. They all move from place to place, and don’t really stay in one place for long. It was the same thing for me and my brothers. We were born in Kisasi. But, when we were old enough, we went about our own journeys, traveling all around the world, seeing what we could learn out there. We’re special cases, though, because as you can see, we ended up right back here.”                “Jeremy still holds that nomadic nature, though, since he spends quite a bit of time on away missions these days.”                Andrew spoke with a yawn as he sat up from his sleeping position. It was apparent that his nap was done.                Jen and Cathy thought about the mention of their older brother. They had never met Jeremy, but had heard much about him. From being personal guard to the leader of Kisasi, to being the very person who trained Matthew and Andrew themselves, they knew that he must be quite the combatant. And whenever they spoke of their older brother, there was only one word that could describe the manner in which they described him… respect. It brought up a concept in the thoughts of the two girls that seemed like a mix between curiosity… and fear.                After all, how strong must the man who trained the Twin Towers be?                “But, anyway,” Matthew said, “our family had a tendency to follow an old saying. ‘Wherever the wind goes.’ In other words, they would always travel in the direction was blowing, and would go wherever it took them. You could say it was that concept that led our family to take up the practice of wind elemental abilities.”                Cathy listened on as Matthew spoke. She still was confused and was now wondering if he had even heard her question. But, she also felt that Matthew wouldn’t ignore her question, and so she didn’t interrupt him.                “You see, the thing about the wind is that it comes and goes, wherever it wants and whenever it wants. You can’t contain it, and can’t tell it what to do. In a word, it is simply… free. That’s what governs the wind, and what can take it to such heights. It’s freedom.”                Freedom, huh?                The thought sounded appealing to Cathy, although she couldn’t explain why she thought so.                “Ever since we were little, we learned quite a bit about wind,” Andrew spoke. “And so, even today, we know at least quite a bit about abilities using wind. We’re no masters, mind you, but we can definitely hold our own in a wind battle. We’ve even adapted some of the families passed down techniques, and tailored them for ourselves.”                “But frankly,” continued Matthew, “we each diverged from tradition, as you know. I went with fire, and Andrew went with earth… but I would suggest that you take up learning wind, Cathy.”                Cathy leaned back, a bit stunned, wondering why Matthew would suggest such a thing, and as a result, was quiet for a moment. But, then she spoke, somewhat meekly as she did so.                “Why is it that you two decided not to master wind?”                Matthew and Andrew looked at each other. It was a legitimate question. Why suggest something that they themselves didn’t do?                The two brothers nodded at each other, and Matthew let out a sigh as he looked back to Cathy.                “Well, it’s simply because we ourselves are not free.”                But, am I really free?                “Then, why would you want me to learn it?”                “Well, one thing is because of how, for whatever reason, you’re unable to use water. Second, I wouldn’t suggest fire or earth, since it would be like following on someone’s heels. I don’t think lightning would be a good fit for someone that actually takes thought into things, like you. And finally, I believe that wind would be the perfect opportunity for you.”                “Why is that?”                “Well, it’s like this: Jen, Andrew, and myself have been somewhat caught up in tradition, and in a way, it has somewhat chained us. Don’t get me wrong. These kinds of chains aren’t really bad, but they are chains, nevertheless. You, on the other hand, don’t have any chains on you. You are quite literally ‘free’ to follow whatever path you choose, and I think that that ‘freedom’ that you carry could take the element to heights that not even our family could achieve.”                Cathy thought about it. It did seem like a pretty good idea. And since they had already learned a lot about the element, she could always ask the two brothers if she needed ideas or reached a dead end.                She nodded.                “I think I’ll give it a try.”                “Sounds good. Be sure to find that freedom, then.”                Matthew smiled, and leaned back against the tree. Now that she had a path before her, he saw that Cathy seemed to be much more at ease. He let his thoughts drift off, and he thought of the path that he had taken, himself.                Maybe one day, I’ll tell you two why I’m not free.                Matthew stood.                “All right. Break’s over. There’s more training to be done, especially now that we need to start getting some wind concepts into someone.”                Everyone stood, and they began walking to the training ground, just as a gentle breeze came through, knocking a leaf from the tree. The leaf tumbled through the air, and it came into view of the four of them as they walked.                Cathy had a new emotion running through her mind as she thought about her new course. She did feel at ease, but she also felt anxious and eager, too.                She looked up at her teacher, just in time to see a smile tug at the corner of his mouth. His eyes were glued to the leaf as it tumbled around them through the air. Maybe it was because she had just found out that she would be learning how to use wind, but seeing that leaf on the wind brought a smile to her face as well.

              “How much do you two know about the elements?”                     Jen and Cathy were both breathing in heavy gasps. It had been a day of strenuous training thus far. Matthew had given them a break to let their muscles rest, before moving into another session. Both of them were in heaps on the ground under the shade of a tree, while Matthew, who had been their sparring partner, was leaning against the tree, arms crossed behind his head. He seemed to be staring into the distance behind them.                “Are you talking about the fighting elements, Master?”                Matthew slightly cringed at that word. He hated being referred to as someone’s master, but it was protocol, and it would be disrespectful if they referred to him in any other manner.                “Yes, tell me what you know about them.”                Cathy and Jen looked at each other, then forced themselves into a seated position. Cathy spoke first.                  “The fighting elements are based off of natural elements. Earth, wind, fire, water, and lightning. Each of them offers different abilities to use in combat.”                Matthew nodded from his reclined position.                “All right. What else?”                Jen spoke up this time.                “Because of the nature of each of the elements, they tend to adopt pretty particular styles of fighting. For example, those that use lightning end up having incredible reflexes, earth users end up like walls that can take tons of damage, wind users are fast and agile, fire users are strong attackers, and then us water users…”                Matthew’s ears perked up at that pause in Jen’s voice. He could tell that she was thinking more about it. She was a water user, after all.                “You know, I’m not sure how to describe it.”                Matthew smiled as he sat up, stretching his arms as he did so.                “Maybe I can help with that.”                The two girls could hear someone approaching from the direction that Matthew had been looking in. They turned to find Andrew approaching.                “Just in time, brother. I was just getting into the explanation.”                Andrew stood near them in the shade, the bulk of him seeming to cast its own shadows under the tree.                “What can you two tell me about those same elements, but in nature?”                A slightly confused look could be seen on the girls’ faces as they thought about their answer.                Cathy spoke once again.                “Um… they’re… the elements…?”                Both of the brothers laughed at the answer.                “I guess that’s to be expected. You probably have never really thought about it, especially when you look at it in a way that we’ll be talking about. I’ll explain each element one by one. Andy?”                Andrew turned his entire body into stone. His body was so much taller than them in the first place, but with the bulk of stone added, he seemed even more imposing than he did before.                Matthew stood, and beckoned for the girls to stand as well, pointing to his brother.                “Try to push him over.”                They stopped in the middle of their standing, almost falling back to the ground.                “What?!” They both exclaimed.                “Yeah, try to push me over,” Andrew chuckled.                After fully standing, the two tentatively walked over to Andrew, staring up at the height of this mountain. Push him over?                Both sighed as they looked at each other, then they leaned in and tried pushing. Matthew now once again leaned against the tree, this time while standing. He watched with an amused smile on his face as their feet slid out from under them. Andrew had begun laughing, and his laughter caused his body to shake, making their grip on him slip.                He let them keep trying for a moment before he called out to them, letting them stop. He could see the frustration in their appearance, believing that they had failed some task given to them.                “Sorry about that. I wasn’t intending for you to actually do it. I just needed to demonstrate a point.”                Both of the girls slumped to the ground as Cathy exclaimed.                “Good, because that’s impossible.”                The corner of Matthew’s mouth raised into a smirk upon hearing this.                “Oh…?”                He stepped forward and walked up to Andrew.                “Hey, tighten up. Plexus and left leg.”                Andrew nodded and then simultaneously the areas around his stomach and left leg could be seen darkening, and they seemed to get more smooth at the same time.                “Jen, give a knock on that spot,” pointing to Andy’s stomach.                Jen walked over to Andy with another tentative look. She then slowly reached out her hand and knocked. A clanging type of sound came from where she knocked.                Stepping back, she said, “Was that metal?”                Hehe. Yep.                Matthew suddenly dashed in, and drove a fist into the spot that Jen had just knocked on. A loud clang reverberated as Andrew stumbled backward. Another clang was heard as Matthew sent a low kick into Andrew’s stumbling left leg. This took Andrew’s feet out from under him. One more clang sounded as Matthew brought his elbow down into that same first spot.                Andrew crashed into the ground, much to the shock of the two individuals who had spent so much effort trying to achieve the same result. Matthew accomplished it in less than a second. They simply stood, wide-eyed, and mouths slightly gaped opened. They knew that Matthew was strong, but they had a hard time wrapping their head around the fact that he was able to knock over someone like Andrew.                “Hey, you guys must have cheated,” Cathy shouted.                Matthew had leant an arm to Andrew, helping him from the ground. The stone and darkened area began disappearing from Andrew’s form, and by the time he was fully standing, it had all disappeared.                “Not really,” Andrew replied.                Matthew also spoke up.                “Yeah. While I may not have been able to pull something off like that in a fight, he didn’t just give me the win. He was actually heavier than when the two of you were trying. But, anyway, that wasn’t the point of what we were trying to accomplish here.”                He turned to the girls, who still bore a confused and gaping look on their faces.                “You know what element Andrew was using, right?”                It took them a quick moment to recover, but then, Jen finally spoke.                “That was earth, right?”                “Yes, and what did you think when you were trying to push over a giant rock?”                “It was like we couldn’t move him, that it was impossible to move him.”                “Just like a mountain, right? Something immovable, solid?”                The girls nodded, and the new look on their face helped Matthew know that they were catching on.                “You see, each element has a principle behind it, something that can make it stronger, depending on how much you can commit to its principle.”                A questioning look came over Cathy’s face.                “So then, what makes his earth element strong?”                Matthew looked over at his brother, and motioned for him to take the answer.                Andrew was quiet for a moment, but his silence was not one of contemplation.  Then, he spoke.                “Duty.”                Matthew gave them all the permission to sit down. After all, it was now time for talking. No need for standing at this point.                “Earth is something that is stable. You don’t think about it much, but it always is there to keep your feet planted on something. You wouldn’t really acknowledge it, or even keep it in your mind, but it’s always there, doing its job. It always will be there to make a path for whoever walks on it. It shields those who hide behind it. In spite of all of the things that happen around it, it never moves and never abandons its role. Ever silent, but always there.”                An almost solemn look flashed across Andrew’s face, and a slight glance passed between the two brothers’ eyes. It was so quick that Cathy and Jen didn’t even catch it happen.  It came and went as if it never had happened.                “So, it’s this sense of duty that influences the strength of elementals, then. Right?”                “Not quite. That principle only applies to earth elemental fighters. The other elements each have their own to drive their abilities.”                While shaking his head, he added, “Lightning users actually have a tough time of it for themselves, though.”                A small and slight chuckle came from Andrew as Jen and Cathy became confused at what Matthew said. After all, why would the driving principle behind the element create difficulty for their own element?                “I should explain by telling a little bit about lightning. When you see it, it is only brief. It goes just as quickly as it came. You can never know where it will strike, and it always comes incredibly fast when it does.”                “Hmm…”                The girls were beginning to think about these elemental interactions, and Matthew could see the gears turning as they tried to figure out what he was telling them.                “So,” Cathy asked. “What principle is behind it, then?”                “I don’t know a better way of describing it, but I guess the best way to describe it is spontaneity.”                “Spontaneity?”                Matthew laughed this time.                “Yeah. Lightning users tend to be very spontaneous individuals. They’re almost driven wholly by instinct. It would be easy to say that because of the nature of their element, they simply don’t have the time to think their actions through.”                Matthew and Andrew laughed as Jen and Cathy let their mouths drop open in surprise.                “Don’t get us wrong with our laughter,” Matthew said while still laughing. “After all, finely honed instincts have no need for deeper thought in battle. Your mind is simply on the fight; you can’t be thinking about anything else.”                Matthew took a deep breath as he stopped laughing.                “The only problem is that lightning users may have trouble with interactions outside of battle. Remember that even finely honed instincts can still be wrong.”                “Ooh! Ooh! Then, how about water users?!”                Jen was excitedly asking the question.                “I can understand why you would want to know about that one. This would apply to you, after all. But, all right. Jen, tell me what you know about water.”                “Oh, well water is… wet?”                Both Andrew and Matthew erupted in laughter.                “Quite true, Jen, although to be more accurate, water is the thing that makes things wet.”                Everyone was able to get a laugh in, including Jen, and it was very apparent that Jen had been making a joke.                Once the laughing died down, Jen took a moment and then thoughtfully spoke.                “But, seriously… I kind of think that water is hard to describe. You could say it can be a life source for living things, but it can also be the death of it, like if you’re drowning, you know? Like it’s a fluid balance of life.”                For the first time since the two girls had met Matthew and Andrew, they were able to see a look very rarely seen on the faces of the two brothers. That look with eyes slightly widened. A look of surprise.                “Did I say something wrong?”                Matthew shook his head, and his face recovered from his apparent surprise.                “No, actually. I was just a bit surprised. I wasn’t expecting your answer, because it wasn’t in my line of thought. But, well spoken. What you said is quite true. After all, our bodies need water to survive, but water can also make us drown, like you said.”                Cathy gave a sharp poking jab in Jen’s side, who went sprawling from the sudden poke. After regaining herself, Jen looked over at Cathy with a look that seemed to say, “What the heck?”                “Good job,” Cathy said with a smile on her face.                A new look came over Jen’s face. This one had a message for Cathy as well, one that seemed to say, “Really?! That’s why you poked me?”                This was not the first time Matthew and Andrew had seen this type of interaction between the two of them. It was common, VERY common, and as such, they had gotten used to it.                Matthew cleared his throat.                “The reason it surprised me is because I was thinking of something completely different about water, which is what I wanted to bring up to you. “                Jen and Cathy looked back towards him, and gave him their attention once again.                “I want you to think about water out there in nature. When water begins to travel, like in a stream, what happens when it hits an obstacle? It will accumulate to become a pond or lake, or it will find a way around the obstacle, or even sometimes go over the obstacle. In some cases, it will even go through the obstacle. If you really think about it… and Jen, if you really want to take your water abilities to incredible heights, then I want you to think about this. Exactly how well does water adapt to its environment?”                Jen had a look of thoughtfulness on her face. She was really thinking about what Matthew was saying.                “Just remember, Jen, that the way you use water is pretty much only dependent on your ability to adapt. To bring it back to the way that you described, water can be used to attack or defend, to heal or to kill. It just depends on you.”                Jen nodded.                “Um, Master…”                Cathy was speaking now.                “Your main element is fire, right? Why don’t you use it more often? I don’t mean to be rude, but I feel like a fire user who doesn’t use fire seems to contradict himself.”                Matthew leaned back, and breathed a very audible sigh.                “That’s a fair question. It does make you wonder, huh?”                The look that came over Matthew’s face at that moment told them that his mind had disappeared to another place at the moment, although only one of those people present could tell where it had gone to.                “I can let you know why I don’t use fire all that often… but before that…”               Matthew leaned forward and rested his forearms on his knees, folding his hands together.                “I should explain what makes fire so special to make me choose to pursue it.”

               Matthew’s story shifted to that of a training area located within Kisasi. As a place known for always containing the most diligent and strong warriors, there naturally would be plenty of places to go to train, for all types of circumstances.                Matthew was at one such training ground, facing off against the one called Cathy, the taller of the two girls with longer and dark hair. It was a full on sparring session in which Matthew was helping her to develop her hand to hand abilities. Both were unarmed, but other than that, anything went. Matthew had to promise not to use any of his elemental abilities for these sparring sessions, and so this quite simply was no more than a sparring brawl.                But, even with no elemental abilities being used, this was no easy task for Cathy. Matthew had received much more extensive training and this gave him quite the edge in their sparring. In the end, it made perfect sense that Matthew had gained such a reputation for himself.                During this sparring session, Matthew didn’t hold back at all. All attacks that came from him were full attacks, and as such, made for painful contacts if the blows actually landed.                One such blow happened when Cathy made a misstep in her movements. Matthew seemed to know beforehand that his attack would connect in a hard way, and called out as the kick hit home right into Cathy’s side.                “Jen, you’re up!”                The kick connected, and Cathy was sent flying. Excruciating pain shot through every muscle, and she was quite sure that her now broken ribs could be heard audibly. She crashed into the ground, sliding as scrapes and bruises were added to her injuries. These injuries made her just collapse at the spot where she landed. There was no moving from her.                Simultaneously, Jen moved at the beckoning of Matthew’s call.                “Yes, Master!”                Jen was not participating in the combat aspect of training, for the time being. The reason for this is that her personal training was going in a very different direction.                Jen hurried over to where Cathy had come to a stop on the ground. Her steps were somewhat heavy as she balanced a large jug of water on her back.  Matthew hurried over to the spot as well. His role now was to oversee the situation that was now to happen.                Jen knelt to the ground next to Cathy, who was still not moving. It was easy to see that she was unconscious. She removed this jug from her back and opened it. She immediately poured water from the jug onto Cathy’s side, as well as over areas which had received additional injuries. She then set the jug down and weaved a few signs with her hands. Very quickly, the various wounds covering Cathy began to disappear. Once they were fully gone, she then poured a small amount on her forehead, and then placed her hand near the spot. A very faint glow emanated from the water, which then soon disappeared underneath the skin. Shortly thereafter, Cathy woke up and stood. No broken bones plagued her anymore, and things could be described as “good as new.”                “So, I guess you could say that their training has been going well?”                “Yes, sir,” Matthew responded. “The two of them are learning incredibly quickly. They had a really good foundation.”                “That is truly wonderful. There is one thing that I was wondering about. I see that you are taking different approaches in their training. Why is that?”                “Well, sir, it’s because of their abilities in fighting. While both of them are from Isla de Tormenta, with all of their water-manipulating abilities, it seems that Cathy is unable to make use of those famed water abilities.”                “Could it be something psychological? Maybe rooted in the trauma over what happened to their village?”                “At first, that’s what I thought, but apparently, she had this problem even before the destruction. And as far as the psychological aspect, I actually don’t believe that to be the case, either. I don’t really know what’s causing it, but whatever it is, it’s something… else.”                Yaar nodded his head, understanding Matthew’s thoughts on this.                “So, that’s why you’ve been focusing on her basic combat techniques, while with Jen, you’ve been assisting her in completing her knowledge of water.”                “Yes, sir. However, I have been contemplating an approach to take with furthering Cathy’s training. After all, while teaching her to fight will increase her ability to survive, it would be problematic to reach a dead end in what I can teach her. “                Yaar was silent for a moment, seemingly in thought, but Matthew knew that Yaar was in his mind.                “I think that you have the right idea. Naturally, I know that you plan to explain to them before you begin to bring her down this road. She’s going to need a reason to follow that path. But, I trust you and how you’ll handle it.”                Matthew nodded, just as a man came in with a box. He stepped near Yaar and Matthew, bowing low as he addressed the two of them.                “Please pardon my intrusion, but this package just arrived from the blacksmith, Andrew.”                Yaar and Matthew exchanged looks with each other, then Yaar motioned for the box to be set on the table between them, which was now cleared of game pieces.                Matthew reached over and opened the box, revealing a pair of pants inside. Yaar touched the pants, and they seemed much thicker than a normal pair of pants.                Looking up at Matthew, he said, “Your brother made a pair of pants? Why didn’t he just give these to you when he saw you?”                Yaar heard a sigh release from Matthew’s mouth as he replied.                “Well, because they are for you, sir.”                Yaar looked up with surprise, and was silent for a moment. Then, suddenly his eyes went wide.                “…Oh dear.”                Nodding, Matthew sighed again.                “Yes, sir. It seems that there is something very unique about Jen, particularly those eyes of hers. We have discovered… the hard way… that she has some sort of penetrating vision. She is able to see through clothing, trees, rocks, and just about anything. And on top of that, she can see a person’s… heat.”                Yaar sat back, with a worried expression on his face.                “I can see why this would concern you. It is a terrifying ability, but for her, I can imagine a very useful one. It would be particularly useful in avoiding conflict, knowing what your enemies are hiding and where they would be located. Once she is fully trained, I may send her out with you on reconnaissance missions.”                Matthew chuckled. Knowing what this meant for the average individual, seeing as she would be able to see people in their most bare state, it could cause quite a bit of havoc. But, Yaar was past that, already thinking of how she could find her place among the people of Kisasi.                “I will, of course, be cautious, and wear these when I meet with her.”                “Yes, sir. We discovered that she is unable to see through things that are flesh in nature, hence the reason for these pants. They are lined with leather, to avoid her being able to, uh, peek through.”                “Thank you, Matthew, and be sure to thank Andrew for fashioning these for me.”                “Of course, sir.”                Matthew stood, and bowed before leaving. It was time to meet with Cathy and Jen for another training session.                I know that you plan to explain to them before you begin to bring her down this road.                He looked around him at the trees swaying in the breeze, the ground beneath his feet, the sun in the sky, and the pond that resided within the palace grounds.                “Hmm, maybe today would be a good day. I’ve got a lot of explaining to do.”                And with that, he walked on to the training area, switching back and forth between elements in his hands, a small flame, a gust of wind, and a swirling orb of water.

               When the masked girl had awoken, she was unsure of how much time had passed since she had lost consciousness, but she became quickly aware of what had transpired. The area where they were, which had before been completely covered in snow, was now completely dry and no snow was anywhere to be seen. The trees, with their leaves completely gone from the winter time, now looked like barren stalks and scorched marks were scattered everywhere on the ground. Nearby, she could see the giant Andrew, walking up with the little girl named Ari, who was skipping along. She then saw the man who had referred to himself as Matthew, kneeling in the dirt next to her partner.                She watched intently as he poured some water on her forehead, and then positioned his hand in the air right above the place where he poured the water. Maybe it was just having awoken from passing out from apparent heat stroke, but she could imagine a faint light coming from the water as it quickly got absorbed into her partner’s skin. She had never seen water used in such a way, as she had only seen it used for combat, and so this method naturally caught her attention as a water element user.                Matthew noticed her movement and sat down on a nearby rock after finishing what he was doing.                “I see that you’re awake. How are you feeling?”                She thought for a moment, and realized that she felt no fatigue, no aches, and no lightheadedness that would normally be associated with fighting in high levels of heat. She felt completely fine.                “Yeah, I’m fine.”                Settling back, Matthew just simply said, “Good.”                “What did you do to me?”                Matthew looked back at her with what seemed like a revelation on his mind.                “You really didn’t get the chance to finish your training, did you?”                The girl simply shook her head, avoiding looking at him.                “…Yeah.”                “I see… Sorry to hear about your village. Isla de Tormenta, was it?”                She nodded.                Both of them stayed quiet for a moment, until Matthew was the first one to speak.                “I guess I should ask this other question. Where did you get those eyes?”                She almost jumped up from where she was, as he questioned her. Putting her hand to her face, she realized that the mask that she had over her face was now gone, leaving her face with its short cropped hair completely out in the open.                “I had to remove your mask,” Matthew stated as he leaned forward on the rock he was sitting on, “to treat the after effects of the heat.”                As she sat there, she knew that there was no hiding it from him. Closing her eyes, she opened them once again, staring Matthew straight in the face. And Matthew once again looked into eyes that were not normal. They looked like cat eyes.                The shock washed over and then passed from her in a moment, and as she thought about it, she could only shake her head.                “…I don’t know…”                Matthew looked at her, and then stretched his arms upwards, letting out a groaning sigh as he did so.                “Well, that’s all right. We all have something unique about us. Yours is just more obvious than others. That’s not a bad thing.”                He turned as the little girl came running up to him. Scooping her up, he put her onto his shoulders, bouncing around to her squealing delight.                The other girl finally came to at that time, slowly sitting up. The previously masked girl went and sat next to her, and they both watched in silence at the man who was playing with the little girl. The giant sat nearby, also watching the two with his back rested against a tree. With this scene before them, it was hard to imagine that they had just come out of a fight. It unnerved them, especially as they took notice of the area where their fight had taken place. This area, which had previously been covered in a layer of snow, now was dry as a bone. There was nothing to show that this area was in the middle of winter, as even the temperature had changed as a result of the fiery blast that Matthew had unleashed there.                Leaning closer together, they began to discuss these events, thus far.                “What are we going to do? I didn’t think that we could actually lose.”                “And to make matters worse, we got stuck here by the Twin Towers, of all people. This is bad.”                “You’ve got that right. Although, to be honest, I imagined these two much more differently than this. They don’t seem as vicious and ferocious as the rumors say.”                “Yeah, I know what you mean. It’s hard to imagine that these guys took down five hundred guys all by themselves. And then there’s the thing about doing what he says if we lost? What are we going to do?”                I don’t know, but I don’t think we should stick around here to find out. We need to get out of here.”                The two of them slowly began to stand, edging their way away from the individuals before them. Step by step, they moved away further and further.                “I hope that you’re not trying to leave. After all, it’s pretty dishonorable to not comply with the wishes of a victor in a contest like we’ve had.”                Both of them froze in their tracks. Matthew had spoken out to them while still playing with the little girl. He had not even taken a look in their direction.                Matthew picked the little girl up off of his shoulders and set her to the ground. Whispering to her, the girl nodded and then skipped over to where the giant was sitting.                “Now, as for the terms of what you’ll be doing…”                Both girls tensed up, fearful of what potential things he would ask. They braced themselves, fearing what he would possibly tell them.                “You both will now live in Kisasi where you will be trained by me and its other warriors.”                There was no helping the looks on their faces, as both surprise and confusion mingled together into their visages.                “What did you say?”                “You both shall now become citizens of Kisasi. We are hard workers there, however, so I’ll be helping you find a place to stay, as well as a means of making a living.”                Both girls didn’t know what to make of this, and stood dumbfounded for some time. Finally, the taller of the two spoke up.                “Let me get this straight. We just tried to rob you, and took this little girl, who is your daughter, captive. Now, you’re offering us a home? Why? What’s the catch?”                A look of sympathy came over Matthew’s face as he began to speak once again.                “I can assure you that there are is no catch with this, aside from the fact that you will be worked hard once we arrive in Kisasi. But, there are a couple of reasons for this.”                The girls didn’t really know what to say, so they just listened on.                “First, it honestly has to do with the fact that you are bandits. I have experienced many bandit groups while on my travels, but there is a particular difference between you and most of them. They all steal and plunder to their hearts’ content, not so much because they need any of it, but simply because they want it. But, the difference between you and them is that is obvious that you are doing this simply to survive. It’s also obvious that you do not wish to kill any of your targets. I didn’t feel any particular danger when you confronted us. I’m guessing that you do this because of what happened to Isla de Tormenta. Am I right?”                Neither of the girls could answer.                “Another reason simply has to do with the fact that I can see that you received some good training from your village. It certainly would be a shame to see that training used on something as disgracing as thievery. After all, all of the jobs that I take on as a mercenary pay so much better.”                The girls’ ears perked up at this statement.                “And the last reason is simply because there are a few points of curiosity that I have, in particular to your fighting style and a certain person’s ocular set.”                The short-haired girl cast her eyes to the ground, avoiding eye contact whenever possible.                With that, Matthew turned and started walking away.                “All right. So let’s get back to Kisasi. Don’t think I’ll let you off easy. You’re going to have to work hard once we get there.”                “Wait a minute! Who said that we agreed to go?!”                Both girls spoke in unison.                Matthew looked over his shoulder as he walked.                “Hmm? With our wager, isn’t it proper to do as the winner requests? And besides, do you have any place better to go to?”                The two looked at each other, and a look tinged with sadness came over their faces.                “Okay. We’ll go…”                They began to follow after Matthew.                As they began to take steps toward what appeared to be their new home, they were introduced to the giant, Andrew, as well as the happy little child, Anne, who was affectionately called Ari by her father. Thoughts began swirling in their minds, which was to be expected, considering that so many things were changing all at once, and so suddenly.                Heretofore, they had been completely on their own. Their hometown, Isla de Tormenta, had been destroyed. They had lost their friends, family, their home, and at that point only had each other, and could only survive by taking from others. And then this guy comes along, forcing them to completely change their way of life. But…                “…Thank you…”                Matthew wasn’t fully aware, but he could get an idea of the struggle that they had gone through. After all, he had experienced some similar experiences himself.                “Don’t thank me just yet. I’ll be your master in training, and I don’t plan on going easy on you, so save those thanks for another time.”                Matthew picked up Ari once again, returning her to the place on his shoulders.                “But, I do understand.”                And with that, he began walking again.                “By the way, I introduced us to you, but we don’t know your names, yet.”                The two girls took one more look at each other before following after the trio.                “My name is Jen,” said the short-haired girl, and while gesturing to the taller, longer-haired girl, “and this is Cathy. Nice to meet you guys.”                A small snicker came from this girl named Jen, which Matthew, for a reason that he neither could understand or explain, made him nervous. He let it pass from his mind, though, as there was no use worrying about something that he didn’t understand.                Let’s just go home.                That’s exactly what they did, with Kisasi’s two new citizens.

               Time passed again, and a relative peace fell on the land in which Kisasi resided. Granted, there were always requests coming through for the village, but they could easily and swiftly be dealt with. This made it possible for many things to be accomplished within the village, including the completion of the hospital that had been under construction within the village. And since the resolution of the incident involving the “Twin Towers,” very few organizations dared to stir up trouble within the lands of Kisasi.                This time of relative peace passed by in the blink of an eye, and during its duration, it became possible for two brothers, Matthew and Andrew, to take some time for themselves, deciding to depart from the village on a vacation, taking Matthew’s little girl with them. Naturally, they were not the type to neglect their training, and so each day that they were away from Kisasi, they would spar and train to make sure that their skills stayed sharp and strong. It wasn’t until the first snows of that year’s winter fell that they found their way back to Kisasi.                It was on their way home from their journey that they made an interesting encounter. They were still a day’s journey out from the village. The two brothers walked along, while Ari would run ahead, playing in the fresh falling snow. Occasionally, a small snowball would be launched from her hand, aimed directly at her dad and uncle. But, the two would easily step to the side of these barrages, still conversing all the while.                A quick blur of motion disrupted their conversation, though, as a blurred form raced toward the location where Ari was ahead of them. Matthew began to burst forward, but jolted to a stop as a flurry of objects embedded themselves in the ground right at his feet. It wasn’t much of a jolt to make him stop, but it was just enough to allow time for the blur to finish the distance to Ari. A woman with dark hair appeared next to Ari, standing so that Ari was positioned between herself and the two much larger people before her. She held a long sword in her hand.                A quick shift of emotions went through Matthew’s head as this event unfolded. First, there was a surprise at the thought that someone was able to get the drop on him and his brother. Second, there was fear at the sight of a strange person holding a weapon so near to his daughter. There was a flash of anger that they would even begin to threaten his daughter. And then, finally, his warrior mind calmed him, reminding him to overlook the situation with more clarity.                And so, he took stock of the situation. This person was in front of him, standing with weapon in hand, right in from of him. He couldn’t fully tell how old she was, but he knew that she was younger than him. There was an odd apprehension about her, as if she didn’t want to be doing what she was doing. And then there was the hail of objects at his feet. Looking more closely, he saw that they were spikes of ice.                A water elemental?                This hail of elemental ice was very precisely thrown at the ground directly in front of him as a quickly moving young lady was racing toward his daughter, which Matthew analyzed to mean…                “Why don’t you tell your partner to come out as well?”                An instance of surprise washed over the face of this young girl before them. She seemed taken back at the words that Matthew had just spoken.                To Matthew, this spoke something to him. In that quick change in her facial expression, he knew that he had nothing to worry about in regard to the safety of his daughter.                The fact that you have expressed surprise at my words shows that you are not used to someone knowing your strategy, also that you are not a cold person. You are not a killer. But still… Never lose your cool. Mistake number one.                Matthew found a slight bit of surprise at his critique of this person’s conduct. After all, they were essentially taking his daughter captive, however something was poking at the recesses of Matthew’s mind as he looked at her. He wasn’t sure if it was in the expression on her face, the way that she was standing, or whatever it may be, but whatever it was, it seemed… familiar.                “Fine. Come on out. He knows you’re there.”                Mistake number two. Never reveal what you have up your sleeve.                Another individual deftly landed to the ground nearby the girl standing in front of them. Matthew felt a shift in Andrew’s posture after seeing the second individual appear. Lifting a hand, he signaled him to stay where he was.                Matthew took a step forward, looking at this new individual as he did so. This person was much more discreet about their appearance, as their face was completely hidden behind wrappings around the majority of their head, save for an area right near their eyes. Matthew could not see their eyes beneath those folds, however. But, even though there was no view of the person’s face, there are some things that you simply could not hide.                “What is it that you two ladies want from us?”                Another look of surprise went through the unmasked person’s face, while an ever so slight jolt emanated from the masked individual.                Matthew had spent many years learning the ways of battle, and it was because of this that he knew the best way to attack your opponent was to unnerve them first.  These two were inexperienced in full combat. However, he could tell that they had received some good training, considering that he couldn’t even tell that they were nearby, and had been able to get the drop on him.                “Stop where you are!”                Matthew had been taking step after step towards them while talking to them. It wasn’t until he had closed about half the distance between that they finally noticed. At the exclamation spoken by the unmasked girl, who seemed to be taller than her counterpart, he stopped where he was.                “Very well,” was his reply.                He looked to where his daughter had been intercepted from him. She was standing still and had turned back to face him.                “Are you all right, Ari?”                “Yes, daddy! I’m all right. May I come to you, now?”                “Not just yet. Stay right there for a moment, Ari. Is that okay?”                “Okay, daddy!”                And with that, the little girl sat down in the snow, making little snowballs with her hands.                Matthew was beginning to see that these two girls weren’t really sure how to deal with him and his party of an immobile giant of a man, and a small child who seemed to have no fear of the situation that she was in. But, as far as Matthew was concerned, this was perfect for Matthew.                “I’ll tell you what. Let’s get right down to the matter at hand here. What is it that you’re after?”                These words seemed to settle down the unmasked girl, as a sigh escaped from within her. It was she who spoke first of these girls.                “What else would a couple of mountain bandits want? Money and whatever valuables you’ve got on you.”                “I’m sure that you can understand why I would have a problem with that. However, I anticipated that that would be what you want. So, I have a proposition for you.”                The masked girl leaned forward from her spot.                “And what kind of a bargain would you be trying to strike up with individuals that are holding you up?”                Matthew tilted his head from side to side, and a pop could be heard from each motion.                “Oh, not much. Just a little contest, that’s all.”                He proceeded to begin stretching his limbs, limbering up his body. His brother looked around and then moved to a nearby rock, dusting the snow that accumulated on the rock off before sitting down on the rock. Matthew continued to stretch as he spoke.                “The deal is this. If you can land a blow on me, then I’ll give you all the money I have. But, if you’re unable to do so, then you have to do whatever I say. Is that okay with you?”                The details of this contest seemed to unsettle the two girls. They looked at each other, whispering before turning back to face Matthew.                Mistake number three. Never take your eyes off of your enemy.                Matthew was still finding himself intrigued at the fact that he was critiquing individuals who had essentially kidnapped his daughter and were trying to rob him. After all, he had been in a situation of bandits attacking him before and had no qualms about quickly dispatching anyone who attempted to do so.  But, he felt no need to do so this time with these two.                Andrew also noticed this as well, especially because he was feeling the same sensation. Neither of the brothers could explain why, but neither felt the need to cause any harm to these two. It was something different, almost as if the two girls simply needed to be… tested.                “Fine then. That sounds like a reasonable enough deal. After all, you’ll see just what you’re up against. But, is it just you or is the big guy joining in as well?”                The masked girl said this, and both girls, even though they seemed to speak with confidence, seemed apprehensive at their acceptance of his offer. Naturally, he felt the need to exploit this, as a chuckle escaped his mouth.                “No, that monster doesn’t need to join in. I’m more than enough for the both of you.”                Normally, this would be quite the arrogant statement coming from Matthew, but he said this with confidence, considering the analyzations that he had been able to make on his opponents thus far. In short, one summation was all that he needed to know in regard to these two girls… they were underestimating him.                He could see the invisible excitement in their body language as they quickly whispered to each other. Matthew turned around to face his brother, allowing his back to face his opponents, since he knew that they were busy discussing strategy.                “Andrew, what do you say to about a fifty or sixty foot range?”                A slight grin manifested on the behemoth’s face as he nodded to his brother. Turning, he disappeared into a layer of trees nearby the clearing that they were in.                Turning back to the two young ladies, he could visibly see a degree of ease appear on their faces.                “Don’t worry. He’s stepping back so that we can settle this uninterrupted. In fact, he’s setting up a barrier for us to make sure that no one interferes.”                Among other things…                “I would feel more comfortable if the little girl was able to move to a spot less likely to be a part of this, however.”                The two girls looked at each other, still with apprehension on their faces, but they both nodded, giving their consent to this request.                “Ari.”                The little girl looked up from the assortment of snowballs that she had made, paying attention to her father’s voice, who had spoken to her.                “Yes, Daddy?”                “You saw where your uncle Andrew went, right?”                Jumping to her feet, the little girl dusted off the snow that had accumulated on her.                “Of course. Yes, Daddy!”                Then, may I ask you to go to where he is, please?”                “I will, Daddy!”                Kneeling down, the little girl grabbed up three of the snowballs that she had made. Turning, she threw a snowball at each of the two girls. Taken by surprise, the snowballs struck them both squarely in the face, causing the masked one to reveal a bit of her face, even if Matthew only caught a glimpse of her eyes. A slight twitch came across Matthew as he was able to see that glimpse.                What was that?                He didn’t have the chance to think too long about it, though, as a white and fluffy bullet flew at his face as well. Tilting his head to the side, the snowball flew harmlessly by. Confusion was etched all over the two girls, as they witnessed the display of a little girl who was able to so powerfully and precisely throw those snowballs.                That’s my daughter.                After launching the snowballs, the little girl ran off in the same direction as her uncle.                Both of the girls were apprehensive about the situation that they found themselves. Neither of them knew what to make of this trio of people who they had come upon. They were still quite confident of their abilities, but something nagged at their minds, especially after the little girl ran off.                The taller and unmasked of the two girls was certainly eager to put an end to this, considering the strange challenge that was given to them by this dark-haired man. Thinking about how the mountain of a man had left the area, it eased her a tiny bit. The only reason why they had grabbed the little girl was simply because they did not want to get into an altercation with the two of them, but considering the terms of this challenge, things were being stacked in their favor. But still, there was a nagging feeling that just wouldn’t go away.                Andrew… Where have I heard that name before?                Matthew removed the cloak covering his arms and body. He didn’t want it to get in the way, after all. Tossing it, it landed across a branch from a tree nearby.                “Well, shall we begin?”                The unmasked girl took a step forward, beginning to bring the sword in her hand behind her, but she was grabbed by the masked individual.                “Be careful. He’s a fire user.”                It was now Matthew’s turn to be startled by something the opponent had spoken.                How does she know that I use fire?                His body began to loosen its muscles. Wariness began to crawl its way through his nerves. A grin passed over his face.                Looks like even they have their secrets, huh?                And with that, the two girls lunged forward, fully accepting the challenge given to him by the mysterious individual before them.

               Word spread quickly about this group, who had been so troublesome by causing so much conflict, and how they were so quickly and soundly defeated by the warriors of Kisasi. This was no surprise to people, as they already knew of the reputation that Kisasi held for being strong and capable. But, one particular story arose from this news, a story about the two young men who brought about the defeat of those causing the conflict. In time, the tale grew more and more extravagant… until the story of the “Twin Towers” became a legend.

Back in the village of Kisasi, a low sound came from within the shop belonging to the blacksmith named Andrew. Inside the storeroom, and deep inside their family’s secret training ground, a large gust of wind issued forth from within a dark hole located in the rear of these grounds. The wind continued until two pairs of feet deftly touched down on the level ground of the cavern.                The two figures stretched their arms as they walked to the entrance of the cavern, all the while talking and laughing along the way. Their clothing was in tatters, full of holes, tears, and burnt edges.              Matthew. Andrew.             But, their laughing and conversation suddenly stopped as they froze in place, as if listening to some unknown voice. After some time, they looked at each other.                The shorter of the two pointed to a table near his taller counterpart.                “Andrew, hand me that jug of water over there. It looks like we’ve only got a few minutes.”                This man grabbed the jug with his massive hand and tossed it over.                “You certainly got that right, Matthew. Let’s see how well our training has gone.”                They both ran out of the training grounds, and then out of the blacksmith shop, into the open air of Kisasi, stopping and standing next to each other.              Matthew placed the jug to his lips, and as he swallowed down the water contained in the jug, a chuckle resonated from inside him. Placing the jug, a smile crossed his face as he placed his hand on his brother’s shoulder, who did the same with his shoulder as well. Smiles, mixed with determination, covered their faces as they suddenly disappeared from the village, vanishing into thin air.

               Another tremor shook the palace walls as Yaar was sitting in the early afternoon. He was sipping tea, and he let out a deep sigh while raising the cup to his lips.                What are those boys doing? And where are they, that they’re able to shake the entire village with their training?                 Finishing his cup and standing to take a walk around the palace, Yaar thought about the young warriors of his village.                He had known the two brothers, as well as many of the other prominent warriors of the village, for quite some time. They had all grown to become incredibly strong over the years, and he was quite proud of who they had all become, the strong men that they were. One even had a child now, who was such a spirited young one.                A smile passed the kage’s lips as he thought of these things. Even in spite of the many requests that they received that required them to engage in combat, these truly were pleasant times.                As he walked the palace grounds, he contemplated largely on the times, and as thoughts of this next generation becoming older hit him, it also hit him when he thought about how old he himself was becoming. His brow furrowed as this realization hit him, and although he knew that he wasn’t dying, the thought still crossed his mind of who would take over the village when he was gone. He didn’t have any sons, so there was no heir to speak of that could inherit his responsibilities after him.                Then, I believe I’ll have to somehow choose a successor. There are some outstanding young men in this village who show the potential for leadership, especially…                His thoughts were interrupted as one of his attendants came up to him.                “Sir, we have word on that matter of the request made to us.”                A letter was placed in Yaar’s hands as the attendant bowed. Opening the letter, he read the words written within. After reading all of the words, he folded his hands behind his back, still holding onto the letter. Taking another look around the palace grounds, a single thought passed his mind.                Gentlemen, it’s time…                It was morning of the next day when Yaar was standing just outside of the village limits, listening to the amounts of people in front of him. Droves of people, soldiers, stood. They stood, chatting amongst themselves. These were a small contingent of the warriors of Kisasi, a small representation in comparison to the overall fighting strength of their village.                It could be found quite odd to an outsider if they were visiting the village during peacetime. During those times of peace, it would seem that the village of Kisasi was more a village of industry, rather than one of a military nature. But, it was during times like this that the incredible nature of Kisasi could be seen.                During times of war, or when missions of a more particular, and secretive, need arose, the people of Kisasi were regarded far and wide as the most powerful fighting force that could be called upon. Man and woman alike were trained in the art of defending themselves from their youth to ensure that when they grew, they would be able to assist larger scale missions if called upon. However, even when there were no missions like that, they still needed to make a living somehow.                And so, during those times of peace, the village became what could only be described as a village of tradesman. The stronger of the men were trained to be men of physical labor. They would become carpenters, masons, blacksmiths, and other such types of laborers. Those who were more keen on their intellect sought out pursuits of scholarly work, transcribing books and translating writings from other lands. Many of the women would group together, and as they watched over their children playing, they would create works with their hands, whether it would be baskets, pottery, or other such handmade goods. Much of the labor provided by these individuals would, of course, go to the furthering of expanding Kisasi, but all that was not needed would be shipped out around to other areas in the form of trade.                But, all in all, the village of Kisasi held the reputation for being home to some of the fiercest warriors of the land, especially when you had the particular talents of the family of brothers that resided within the village.                Yaar worked over the plan for this mission over again in his head. The idea was to showcase a display of power that would discourage the hostile group from ever causing problems in their lands again. There was a large force assembled in front of him at the moment, but they would not be participating in this mission…                Looking to each of his sides, two tall men stood, one being of the family of brothers. There stood the eldest of the brothers, Jeremy, and on the opposite side of Yaar stood the dark-skinned best friend and honorary brother to Matthew, Anthony. These two had the task of being Yaar’s personal guard.                They were waiting for the other warriors that would be participating in this mission to arrive, and just as soon as Yaar began to wonder about their locations, he heard the sounds of cheers coming from the direction of the village interior.                Emerging from crowds of soldiers, three men came walking toward the kage and his entourage. Ryu and Erman walked while talking to each other, while the shorter man, Tommy, waved to the crowds of soldiers as he passed through.                With their arrival, there were only two individuals that had yet to arrive.                Matthew and Andrew…                A deep sigh came from within Yaar as he wondered where the two brothers could be. Two tall individuals like that were hard to hide within the village, and he knew that they had not left the village. But, where could they possibly be to escape the contact of their kage. He didn’t have the heart to tell them that he knew of their secret training ground, but he was sure they already knew of him being aware of it. The problem was that he could always make contact with them, even when they were in that area. Their own brothers had even checked to see if they were there, but returned empty handed on the whereabouts of the two siblings.                Time was not on the side of Yaar, though, as they were in the need for commencing with their operation. Matthew and Andrew would simply have to meet up with them once they were found, if they were to catch up at all.                Stepping forward, he looked over at all of the people standing in front of him once again, including the three who had now made their way to the front of the crowd of soldiers. Raising a hand, he drew the attention of those assembled before him. He waited until all were silent before he began to speak to them all.                “It is truly a wonderful sight to see all of these great soldiers standing before me. As I see you all, I am truly proud to be the kage of this village. You all should be proud to call yourselves warriors of Kisasi.”                A considerably loud cry arose from the group, resonating with the words that Yaar had just spoke.                “There is a group out there that wishes to cause conflict within our nation, and we have been called upon to deal with them. They believe themselves to be the strongest out there, and that is precisely why we will give them an answer of who is truly the strongest, proving that you do not rise against the warriors of Kisasi.”                Another cry arose in affirmation to his words. He looked down to the warriors in front of him that would be departing on the mission with him. The shorter man, arm in sling, held a pair of steel balls in his hand. The taller man, Erman, clad entirely in black, looked back at him attentively. And the third, Ryu, with clothing of red and black, looked at him, comprehending every word that came from his mouth.                “Though not all of the people here will be participating in this mission, those remaining still have a mission to uphold. You are charged with protecting our home until our return. We move now to battle, but your mission is no less important. Protect our home.”                One more cry rose up as Yaar beckoned for the trio in front of the crowd to join him and his entourage. Together with Jeremy and Anthony, their party was comprised of a total of six men. Another sigh escaped the kage as he thought of how this was supposed to be a group of eight men, the strongest of the strong when it came to the warriors of Kisasi, but that was something that couldn’t be helped. His plan could still be accomplished, however not with as much magnitude as could be done.                He turned his thoughts toward the task at hand, focusing on what needed to be done, but still lingering in the back of his mind was the thought of those two brothers.                Matthew. Andrew. Where are you?

               One particular afternoon, Lord Yaar stood at a balcony of his palace, reflecting on his hometown. Kisasi had been experiencing interesting times. It was developing at an astounding rate, thanks to that family of tradesmen that lived in the village.                He thought of how he had watched them all grown from the time of themselves being children, and now one of them even now had a child of his own.                He also thought about the mysterious tremors happening in the village. They were very… particular.                It was always shortly after noon occurred that these tremors would happen. Continuing until about an hour before sunset, they would suddenly stop until the same time the next day.                These tremors weren’t causing any damage, so Yaar wasn’t all too concerned with them. He did find it odd and curious, however, and he would definitely like to know what the cause for this was.                As he stood there, an attendant came out to the balcony, informing him that a courier had just come with a message for him.                “Thank you. I’ll take the message in the main hall.”                He made his way to the main hall, the place where his throne was located. He despised sitting in that throne, but when it came down to business matters with other villages, he knew that he needed to look more official.                And so, while sitting in that throne, the courier was sent in. A letter had been placed in Yaar’s hands, and as he read the letter, the man detailed his reason for having been sent to seek an audience with the leader of Kisasi.                Upon the completion of his account, the man waited patiently for Yaar to speak. Pondering some things in his mind, Yaar remained silent for a moment. Then, he leaned forward and called to an attendant that was standing to the rear of the hall.                Giving the attendant a list of names, he informed him that they were to be assembled in the hall the next morning. Then, turning to the courier that was sent to him, he asked him to stay for the evening, and he would be given his reply in the morning.                The man was shown out to where he would be staying for the night, leaving Yaar to his thoughts. A look of contemplation covered his brow.                The following morning, Matthew walked with his younger brother. They had been informed of the kage’s summons. That was where they headed at that moment, for they were among the individuals that were told to come in that morning.                Upon arriving, they began to get a sense of what kind of a situation was going to be discussed, judging from the people that were already present.                Already assembled in the hall were his other brothers, Anthony and Jeremy, as well as Ryu.                As Matthew moved to join them, he couldn’t help but to try and ascertain what was going to be requested.                Judging from the people assembled, however, I can take a guess. But, it also means that the missing people are…                It was at that moment that Matthew could hear voices coming from the hall. One voice particularly stood out above the other that Matthew could hear.                Yep, and there they are.                Two men entered the room. One of them was of average height, skinny, sporting an enthusiastic, but reserved, aire to his personality. He wore all-black, from head to toe.                The other man wasn’t all too much different from the other, aside from the fact that he was much shorter than the other. He was dressed in darker clothing, and hung his arm in a sling of sorts at the front of his body.                There was one stark contrast, however, compared to the other man, or any of the other men, for that matter. It became apparent with his mannerisms. Exceptionally boisterous and energetic, this man could make even the most youthful of individuals feel tired.                “Hey, guys! How’s it going?” The shorter man came over, slapping each of the men already assembled on the back, even though they were all so much larger then him.                Responding, Andrew returned the greeting, almost sending the man across the hall doing so. Everyone gained a moment of laughter at this, including the man that got sent flying, who nimbly landed on his feet.                “How are you doing, Tommy?” Matthew slapped this man on the back as well. Then, reaching out his hand to the man that had accompanied him, gripped his hand in a shake.                “And you, Erman? How are things?”                These men he had known for quite some time as well, although nowhere near as much time as he had known his brothers, of course. They had all become friends when each of them had come to reside within Kisasi. Since then, they themselves had made quite the name for themselves as well.  Their appearance here with them made it apparent what their purpose for being there was.                They all chatted with each other for a little bit while they waited for the kage to make his way into the hall. Sitting in throne at the fore of the hall, he immediately got down to business.               “First off, I hope that you haven’t been too put off by the tremors that we’ve been experiencing around the village, lately. They certainly have been peculiar.”              It was a very quick instance in which it happened, but Yaar glanced quickly between Matthew and Andrew, then continued talking.  A shudder went through Matthew’s body.                “We received a request yesterday. It would appear that there is a group causing trouble in a neighboring village. Reports are saying that they are starting fights, stating that they are the strongest in the land, and no one has any right to lead, but their leader.”                All of the men made sure to listen. Their kage was speaking, after all.                “It’s a relatively large group that’s causing the problems, with their numbers somewhere around a couple hundred. The identity of the group, and where they came from isn’t known. As for the reason why I asked you all here…”                Under normal circumstances, a group of soldiers would be sent to take care of such requests as this. Matthew and the other warriors assembled here would often be leaders of detachments that were sent out. This was the normally the case, but Matthew was getting the idea that this was not the case this time around. He felt that the kage had something else in mind.                “We’ll need to treat this request a little differently. After all, this group that we’ll be dealing with seems to be quite confident in their abilities. They’ve been invading multiple areas, and in each of these areas, they seek out the strongest of that area to pick a fight with them, in addition to plundering their lands.”                A tingle began to make its way down Matthew’s back as he began to understand what the kage was getting at.                “And so, when it comes to the military force that we’ll be sending out, it will be composed of… the individuals that we have assembled in this room.”                Matthew once again took a look around the room. Including himself, the individuals assembled before the kage were Andrew, Ryu, Jeremy, Anthony, Erman, and Tommy. The warriors regarded as the strongest of Kisasi were present. Seven warriors total were here.                Wait, no… There’s eight of us here…                A smile slowly crept onto Matthew’s face. In a quick glance, he saw that it had found its way to Ryu’s face as well, and eventually to the others’ as well. All of them were smart individuals, but Matthew and Ryu were always quicker to the draw than the others.                Kage Yaar continued to speak.                “I have information that this group is very overconfident in their abilities. I’m sorry if I am placing a major challenge in front of you, but I’m confident that you can accomplish this.”                A challenge, indeed.                A laugh resonated through Matthew’s head. They all enjoyed a good challenge.                Ryu raised a hand, addressing Yaar.                “Sir, when will this operation be taking place?”                “We don’t have enough information on that just yet, as we don’t know their location at the present time, but with their previous attacks in mind, we can assume that we’ll be commencing our operation in about a weeks’ time. Preparations will begin immediately, however.”                All seven of the men nodded their acknowledgement.                “Very well. Take this time to make any preparations that you personally need to do, in the meantime.”                Another round of nods followed, with a glance shared between Matthew and his younger brother. Yaar stepped down from his chair, and the men were dismissed. They all began to disperse and leave the hall,beginning to chat amongst themselves.                “Oh, one last thing,” the kage called after them.                “Matthew and Andrew, I would like to speak with you for a moment.”                Apprehensively, Matthew looked at Andrew, who was staring back at him. Then, they both turned back, following the kage out of the main hall through a separate door than the others, who had already made their way out to take care of whatever business they had for the day.                “So, it would seem that you two young men have been having an interesting time, as of lately.”                At this particular moment, Matthew felt similar to a child that was about to find himself in trouble.                “Would you like to tell me about what you’ve been up to?”                Matthew thought a moment, and then said, “I’m sure that there is no need to do so, sir. Is there?”                Yaar continued to look forward as they walked.                “I suppose there is no need.”                Matthew was relieved. He didn’t want the word getting out about what he and Andrew were trying to accomplish.                “I appreciate that, sir.”                “I understand. However, be glad that no damage is being inflicted upon the town. Otherwise, I would order you both to stop what you’re doing.”                “Yes, sir,” was the only response that Matthew and Andrew could manage to utter.                “How close are you to completing this?”                “Very close, sir.”                “Do you think that it will be complete before we commence?”                “I believe so, sir.”                Yaar nodded.                “Good. That’s what I have in mind for this.”                “Sir, do you really have that much confidence in us?” It was now Andrew who spoke up now, with a slight inquisitive look in his eye.                “I absolutely do. I know my warriors. In addition, I’m sure that you sensed it as well, Matthew. Am I correct?”                Matthew paused his steps, and then nodded.                “Yes, sir. You will be there with us?”                “You’re correct. With a display of the mightiest that our nation has to offer, I couldn’t possibly miss this, as kage.”                “I see. Then that means that Jeremy and Anthony are coming to-“                “Yes, which means that the main fighting will fall upon you young men.”                “Understood, sir.”                “Very well. Then, I will leave you to your preparations. I’m sure that you have plenty of work to get done before next week.”                They all stopped walking. Matthew and Andrew made a quick bow, and then made their way out of the palace grounds, making their way directly to Andrew’s shop.                “What do you think, brother?” Andrew asked, “Do you think we can get it done in time?”                “It certainly is possible. We may have to do this a bit more… diligently, however.”                “Yeah, that makes sense. So, I guess that means that Ari is staying at the neighbor’s for the next few days, right?”                Matthew laughed.                “Yeah, I guess so. And then after this mission, I think a vacation is in order. What do you say?”                “Sounds good. We gotta earn it, though.”                “You’ve definitely got that right,” Matthew said, as they made their way down past the normal training area into the more secretive section.                Having finished their stretches, they stared at each other once again, readying themselves for confrontation.                Then, with quick and sudden steps, the clashes between them shook the area, as well as the entire village.                The people of the village would recount the tremors that were happening throughout the village of Kisasi, and how they seemed to intensify. Those tremors would continue continuously and without stopping… for the next three days.

“What did you discover while you were down here?”                 Matthew didn’t respond for a second as he looked around, as if looking for something in particular. A moment later, he seemed to find what he was looking for, and suddenly moved off to his left. He moved some distance ahead, and then stopped in front of a large, dark space at his feet.                 “This is what I found.”                 Andrew moved to his side, and looked down. At their feet was a large hole. Matthew was looking down into it as well.                 “I’ll need you to follow shortly after me. It’s a pretty good amount of distance down, and it’s deep enough into the village that I’m sure we’re about underneath the palace grounds. Naturally, you’re too big for me to take you down personally, but you are a member of our family, so I’m sure you can manage. But, there’s one thing, though. Once we get down to the bottom, I won’t be able to show the path for a moment, because I’ll have to focus on landing. So, it may be dark for your landing.”                 Andrew nodded his head, slightly chuckling to himself as he did so.                 “Heh, all right. Sounds like fun.”                 And with that, Matthew jumped into the hole. As the light quickly faded around him, Andrew jumped as well.                 Although Andrew and Matthew had chosen other elemental routes for their fighting styles, such as earth for Andrew and fire for Matthew, these were not the first and only elements that they learned. This was apparent in the way that Matthew wove his elements together to create exceptional fighting techniques, in particular with wind. It was less apparent, however, that his brother was able to use a secondary element as well.                 And so, propulsions of wind came from Andrew, keeping him away from the walls of this hole as they both fell. Matthew wasn’t using wind, and Andrew noticed that it could be due to the fact that he was maintaining his fire to ensure that Andrew could see where he was falling. Instead, Matthew was in a complete freefall, slightly pushing off the walls of the hole as he descended.                 Quickly, they emerged into an incredibly large cavernous area, veiled in shadow, except for the small amount of light that Matthew’s flame illuminated. Andrew could see that the ground was coming up quickly, and so began slowing himself down, slowing even quicker as he saw Matthew’s flames extinguish.                 Total darkness enveloped them. Andrew knew that his brother most likely had already landed, and so he now focused on slowing himself down. He couldn’t see close he was to the ground, but he knew it was close. In the darkness, he could feel himself still descending, but it was nowhere near the speed that he previously had been doing.                 As soon as his foot felt something beneath him, light once again illuminated his surroundings as Matthew created a flame within the palm of his hand. Setting down, Andrew could now get a better look at the area.                 It certainly was a large area, veiled in shadow with large pillars supporting the area.                 As he looked around, Andrew knew that they could really cut loose in this setting.                 “Okay, we’ve got a lot of work to do, and I’ve got to make dinner tonight, so let’s get down to it.”                 Matthew began walking around to various areas around the cavern, lighting torches that were placed around the area. He continued to talk as he moved around.                 “That time with the broken legs was an interesting situation, to say the least. What you had seen was the result of what happened after mixing and using two of my elemental abilities simultaneously. I had mixed wind and fire together, and it created an incredibly powerful mixture.”                 Andrew listened as he began stretching out his muscles, limbering up for what he knew was going to be a good training session.                 “There was a problem with using both of them at the same time, however. While I was able to increase my speed and strength to supreme levels, as soon as I hit the wall right above that spot we just came through, I had broken both of my legs. The impact caved in the hole, creating the passage into the area where we now are. I was too injured to investigate the area down here, but after I healed up, I came down and found all of this.”                 Andrew looked around, making note once again of their surroundings.                 “I cleaned up the area, making it much more of a training area, added torches around for light, all before heading off for the mission.”                 Matthew lit the last torch, then turned and began stretching as well.                 “But, enough about that. Time to get down to business.”                 Andrew nodded.                 “Yeah, exactly. I guess recap first?”                 Matthew nodded as well.                 “Let’s start with your fight. My summation of what you told me earlier is that you fought a guy with mysterious bandage seals covering portions of his body. He was incredibly strong, with a dense musculature, and his body seemed to get even denser the longer you fought. In addition to that, during the final blow that you took from him, you felt a searing hot pain. Am I correct?”                 “Yeah, pretty much all covered,” Andrew responded. “And as far as my summation of your fight with Julian, he exhibited abilities that have something to do with some concept called ‘gravity.’ There was some sort of aura around him that redirected physical attacks, but high speed attacks were only partially deflected and elemental attacks worked fully. He has a projectile style ability, and also he has an incredibly high regenerative ability. You were able to do actual damage to him when you combined your wind and fire, but the ability was quickly breaking your body down. Once you added your water ability to the mix, you overcame the physical burden but your mind couldn’t take the strain. Did I miss anything?”                 “Nope, you just about have it all covered as well.”                 They both finished their stretches, then stood fully, looking at each other straight in the eye.                 “Well then,” Andrew said, “I have a pretty good idea what to do for you. I can’t really help you with that whole mental part. That’s something that you’ll have to deal with on your own.”                 Matthew nodded as his eyes were downcast for a moment.                 “However, when it comes to the physical deficit that you had to deal with, I can help you with that. There’s only one way to teach it to you, though.”                 Kneeling with one knee to the ground, he simultaneously slammed one fist to the ground with the other slamming into his chest. Andrew’s skin turned gray, angular, and became a shell of solid stone as he stood back to his feet.                 Looking at his brother, he spoke to him.                 “I’ll have to beat it into you.”                 Matthew smiled, and took a step forward. Andrew, even through his Stone Skin, could feel the temperature rising and the torches seemed to burn more brightly than just a moment before.                 “You know, it’s funny. You’re a blacksmith, so I know that you’ll understand why I say this, but I was just thinking the same thing. I’ll have to beat it into you as well.”                 Throwing his arms wide, Matthew became completely encased in flames. It was now Andrew’s turn to smile.                 “I’m looking forward to it, brother.”                 And with that, both men lunged at each other, ready to strike. Training began, although no one could see the smiles etched on the faces of these two young warriors.

                To Julian, he wasn’t sure how to comprehend what was happening around him. Matthew had completely disappeared before his very eyes. He knew that Matthew did not have the ability to teleport. But, what was happening was too amazing to be anything short of an ability like that of teleportation.                 He could still tell, however, that it was not teleportation. One major sign to testify of this fact was that as soon as Matthew disappeared, leaving that cloud in the place where he once stood, sudden winds stirred up all around him. It was proof that Matthew had not teleported, but in fact, just like before, he was moving simply with an incredible and unfathomable amount of speed.                 Although Julian had already witnessed a dramatic increase in speed when Matthew blended his fire and wind together, this increase in speed was on a much larger scale than what he had attained when cloaked in that robe of blustery flame that he had been wearing earlier. This was something completely new that Julian was now dealing with.                 As he tried to make sense of this new experience, he readied his sword and thought about what was to come.                 This is quite impressive, Matthew. However, there is still something that you don’t know about…                 Just as the thoughts made their way through his mind, he felt an intense blow strike his sword arm. The blow knocked the feet out from underneath him, and sent him sailing. Striking a nearby tree, it did nothing to stop his momentum. Julian’s body was knocked through the tree, and he spiraled as he flew past the tree, which fell from the blow that had struck it, landing with a great crash. As he spun, he caught a glimpse of something like a shadow that struck him in his abdomen. Losing all forward momentum, he was flung upward from this new blow. He just barely saw something pass by him up into the air, faster than he himself was moving. He tried to use his arm with the sword still in hand to gain momentum to swing himself into facing the direction he was flying upward, but he was surprised to find that he wasn’t able to move the arm freely.                 Using his other arm, he quickly reached over and felt to see what may be going on. Finding a broken bone in his arm, he reached down to the place where the blow had struck his abdomen. He found two broken ribs.                 Because of who Julian was, he did not feel any pain, and since he knew that his body would automatically heal itself, he generally didn’t take notice of any connecting blows that he received. And knowing how rare it was for him to receive any damage to his body with that aura that covered his body, it was quite a surprise when he found the broken bones of his body. And although the bones were already starting to reset themselves and heal, the fact that Matthew was able to do this kind of damage to him was an amazing fact.                 There may just be hope for you, Matthew…                 His arm healed just enough, and he was able to turn towards the direction of the blur that had passed him. As he turned, he brought his other hand to the handle of the sword to help assist the still healing arm. He found another surprise as he turned to see the direction of what was in front of him.                 Matthew was hovering above him, hands encased in blazing torrents, clouds of steam emanating all around him, and flames bursting from his back.                 Those flames at his back… They almost look like… wings…                 But, that was not the immediate thing that arrested his attention. For upon Matthew’s face was something that Julian was pretty sure he had never seen on Matthew’s face before, something completely uncharacteristic of the person that Julian knew Matthew to be. This thing that he saw… was anger…                 If he were in better condition to do so, then Matthew would have laughed at the position that he found himself in. He had discovered a way to overcome the problem of his body becoming destroyed by the dual usage of wind and fire. But now, he had a different problem that needed to be dealt with. While he may have figured out how to keep his body from falling apart and torn to shreds, there was now the problem of mental stability.                 At this moment in time, he was maintaining fire, wind, and water elements, as well as making use of combat techniques, strategies, and analyzing the flow of battle. In addition to maintaining normal bodily functions, his mind was straining in every direction, and as a result, his head was starting to gain a terrible headache and the subconscious began to flow to the surface. As for the thoughts that were coming…                 He knew that he was doing actual damage to Julian. After all, when he had landed the blows on his arm and abdomen, he had felt the bones give way beneath the force of his fists. He could tell that he was beginning to lose control, though. With those blows, he was beginning to feel like he was enjoying it… punching someone. But, he also began to notice something else. He began to feel like his body was becoming… heavier.                 He didn’t think that this could be possible. The water was healing his body at a very quick rate to stay ahead of the damage being inflicted by the wind and fire combination. And it couldn’t be muscle fatigue, for the same reason that there was no damage being dealt to his body.                 Then why is my body beginning to feel so much heavier?                 But, one good thing came out as he looked down on Julian after the sequence of blows that had sent him directly into the air. This incredibly potent blend of three elements had been able to produce enough power within him to give him the ability of short term flight.                 He could see that Julian was bringing his sword to bear, making an attempt to strike Matthew. But, Matthew was not going to give him the opportunity to use that massive sword against him. He flew directly at Julian, driving his knee straight into his sternum. A quick succession of fists followed. One to his left temple. One to his right side. A kick to his left hip. A burst of empowered fire to his entire body. Then, with a quick burst of maneuvering, he came around behind Julian, and sent another blow to his back, sending him with even more velocity into the air. Propelling himself to the ground, he began to prepare an attack, the biggest one he could see himself doing at this point in time. Crossing his arms in front of him, he began to charge an attack with all three of his elements, a unison attack similar to the one that he had seen the group of warriors from the mission use, except minus the earth ability.                 With his head throbbing, he looked up at Julian, who had now righted himself in the air, and was beginning to descend towards Matthew. He looked at Julian, and his body began to tremble from the emotion that was beginning to take hold as his mind began to drift away. A rainy night flashed before his mind. A piercing yell. Anger began to fill his heart, and with a visage that could chill the blood of even the fiercest, and hardened, of warriors, Matthew readied himself.                 From outside the battle, the two onlookers watched in awe at the ability being manifested in this battle. To Andrew, he was becoming increasingly amazed at what was being exhibited from his brother. But still, that same nagging feeling was interrupting his awe. He just couldn’t understand it. And when Matthew landed on the ground to begin such a powerful attack, Andrew caught a look at his brother’s face. Seeing that look of pure anger and rage, Andrew could tell that something terrible was happening. Knowing the reason why Matthew wished to find out about that emblem that Julian had been wearing, Andrew had an idea what may have instilled this fit of rage that was appearing in his brother.                 Brother, you need to calm down…                 Still looking up at the now descending form of Julian heading directly for him, Matthew could feel his heart beating in his head. The pain was intense and his mind was full of stray thoughts. He was doing everything that he could to keep himself together, but it was quickly becoming too much for him to handle. And although his intuition told him that this battle was coming to an end, he also knew that he needed to make that so, or his mind would succumb to his own technique. And as felt the brimming amount of energy inside of him, he knew that now was the time to bring this conclusion to its realization.                 Raising his arms above his head, he was stunned at how heavy they were. It was like they were weighed down by some incredible, yet invisible force. It was such a force that as soon as Matthew managed to raise his arms over his head, they fell back down by his sides.                 Matthew didn’t know what to think, but he wasn’t given any time to consider this development as he glanced back up to find Julian rapidly descending towards him. He didn’t have any time to prepare another attack, and so, with all of the force that he could muster, he flung himself to the side, narrowly escaping as Julian crashed to the ground, splitting it apart with his massive sword.               Very impressive, Matthew. You had come close…                 Matthew landed on the ground some distance away, but he could still feel the tremors of Julian’s landing from his own point of impact.                 Struggling to stand, he found his way to his feet. He saw that Julian was doing the same, but doing so a lot easier than he was doing himself.                 “Are you having trouble, Matthew?”                 Both of them faced each other, and as Matthew turned to face him, his legs shook underneath him. He simply felt so heavy.                 Julian drove his sword into the ground in front of him. Tilting his head to one side, he was watching Matthew’s every movement.                 “I guess that it has finally set in to a level that could actually slow you down.”                 Matthew narrowed his eyes and flinched at this thing spoken to him.                 “What did you do to me?”                 Julian didn’t say anything. Julian raised one of his arms, and Matthew felt a sudden increase in how heavy his body was feeling. Crashing to one knee, he could barely keep his head up, staring intently at Julian.                 Looking at Julian’s eyes, he could see nothing but cold, almost lifeless eyes.                 “Why won’t you say anything, Julian? You know the reasons why I’m asking. So, why won’t you tell me!?”                 Matthew’s voice escalated, in both volume and intensity. His face began to contort, eyes narrowing even more, mouth quivering. A pang of the pain running through his mind sent it elsewhere.                 A flash of memory past came to his thoughts. A rainy night. He was kneeling on the ground.                 He forced himself back to standing on both of his feet. His breath came in ragged gasps as he continued to stare at Julian. Another yell issued from his mouth.                 “Julian, I need to know! So, why won’t you tell me!?”                 He lunged forward, a trail of the blaze following behind him. Aiming straight at Julian’s head, he brought his arm back, preparing to strike with all the rage inside his mind. But, frustration arose as he suddenly hit the ground with a thud and slid forward. Stepping to the side, Julian simply let him slide by, but not without landing a kick in Matthew’s chest as he went by.                 When Matthew came to a stop, he picked himself off of the ground, and slowly stood to his feet once again. His breathing rate was increasing, the headache getting worse. Turning to face Julian, he found himself breathing through his teeth.                 Julian continued to say nothing, but only looked at Matthew, as if he were simply wanting to watch what he would do. Matthew’s legs shook terribly underneath him. He didn’t know how much longer he could keep standing.                 “Julian…”                 He took a step toward Julian, almost buckling underneath the weight of his own body.                 Another image flashed into his mind. The same rainy night. The same image of him kneeling on the ground. He felt the sensation of tears flowing from his eyes. A piercing yell filled his ears. And the feeling of something in his arms. It was a woman… dead.                 “Julian!! Tell me!!”                 A sudden burst of blazing energy broke free from within him broke free. Nearby trees were reduced to ash in an instant. The ground scorched and turned black. A flare up of burnt skin appeared on Julian’s face, but was soon replaced by new tissue.                 Matthew took another step toward Julian. Sheer determination moved him now. The desire within his heart that was escaping to the surface fueled him as he took even another step forward. Glancing at the two witnesses to their battle, he could see them standing around, even as the trees in the area began to snap from what seemed to be the same force that was affecting him. The two gigantic men that stood witness to their altercation stood as tall as they could. To Matthew, it seemed like they were unaffected by this mysterious force that was bringing Matthew to his knees.               But why is it not affecting them?                 Simultaneously, Julian began to bring both arms upwards slowly. No emotion could be read on his face.                 With one final, piercing yell, Matthew lunged forward once more, just as Julian brought both arms up in front of him. Matthew suddenly crashed to the ground as even more force pushed him to the ground. At this point, his body was drastically heavy. There was no way he could move it anymore.                 Julian began moving forward, holstering his massive and bandaged sword at his back. Matthew struggled, trying to find some sort of way to get himself back to his feet. His eyes clouded and his vision blurred. He realized, as he felt the moisture moving across his face, that it was tears that was causing his vision to blur.                 He cried out once again, this time issuing a pained, mournful cry.                 Julian walked up next to him. Looking down on him, he seemed to be studying Matthew.                 “I guess that you weren’t ready, after all.”                 Another cry came forth from Matthew, echoing across the forest.                 Kneeling down next to his former mentor, Julian put one hand on the ground. Leaning in close, he spoke to his felled opponent.                 “Tell me, Matthew. Have you ever heard of gravity?”                 And with that, he landed a sharp blow into Matthew’s face, just as another cry came from Matthew’s mouth. To Matthew, a final image burned itself into his mind as his consciousness slipped away. That woman in his arms and his piercing cry on a dark and rainy night…                 Julian stood to his feet. He stared down at the unconscious form of his former mentor. He continued to stare, even after he heard the heavy footsteps approach behind him. Julian stood silently, ignoring the sound of his partner clearing his throat behind him. He even ignored the form that appeared in front of him, another gargantuan form. He could feel both of them readying themselves to fight again.                 He finally looked up at the giant in front of him. He could see the look in Andrew’s eyes. He was ready to protect his older brother, even though he knew that he was in no condition to fight. Julian took another glance at his mentor, both of them, and then turned away.                 “We’re leaving.”                 Mike stayed motionless for a moment, watching every movement that his previous opponent was making. Naturally, both of them were wary of each other.                 “Mike, we’re leaving.”                 Mike loosened his demeanor. Stepping backward, he still didn’t take his eyes off of Andrew, who was showing his confusion.                 “Julian, is that really you?”                 Julian stopped. Turning his head, he looked back at Andrew. Even now, no emotion betrayed his thoughts.                 “Andrew, when he wakes, tell him that we’ll meet again… when he’s ready.”                 And with that, he walked off, his giant partner following, who also gave a look back at the opponent he faced a short time ago. Then, as suddenly as they had appeared, they disappeared into the forest. Andrew watched as the left, wanting to find out more of the situation, but also not wanting to leave his brother alone.                 I hope that you know something, brother…                 Pulling his brother over to a nearby rock, he propped him up. Checking to make sure there were no serious injuries, he sat down nearby, and just waited.                 Matthew slowly regained his consciousness, echoes of memories still resounding through his mind. As he slowly opened his eyes, he no longer felt the pain residing in his mind. His time unconscious had given it time to cool down, He was calm once more.                 Slowly, he moved to check his surroundings. He was propped against a large rock.                 To his side, he found a few jugs of water. Even farther, he found the massive form of his younger brother. He could see heavy wounds scattered across his body and face, even though part of his brother’s face was turned away.                 Andrew was staring off somewhere. Matthew could tell that he wasn’t looking at anything in particular. It was the look of a mind lost in thought. Matthew had an idea of the thoughts on his younger brother’s mind.                 Moving to be able to sit upright on the rock he was leaning against, he let out a slight grunt as he moved, jolting Andrew from his thoughts.                 Andrew looked over and turned to face his older brother. Neither of them spoke for a second until Matthew let out a large sigh.                 Well, that’s enough silence.                 “Hmm. Well, we both know that I got my butt kicked. How did yours go?”                 A small chuckle came from that massive form.                 “Yeah, I didn’t fare too well, either.”                 They both laughed.                 Although it would seem an odd appearance after getting beat up, this was their standard reaction. After all, that usually meant one thing for them.                 “I guess that means we need more training, then. Isn’t that right?”                 They both were open the fact that, at some point, they would find someone stronger than themselves. It also offered a chance for a challenge to place on themselves. But, it also was their way of responding to something else as well.                 Matthew stood up and stretched his legs and body. Their laughter subsided, and they grew silent once again. Again, it was Matthew who spoke first.                 “Listen, brother. I want to-“                 “It’s all right,” Andrew interrupted, “I have an idea what was going through your head.”                 Matthew hung his head a little lower.                 “I’ll have to admit that that was quite the impressive fight. Although, that was very reckless. I recognized those seals that you had used. What did you hope to accomplish by doing something like that?”                 Matthew sat back down, and meekly looked to his younger brother.                 “He said that if I beat him, then he would tell me everything about them.”                 “Them? As in-“                 “Yeah… them…”                 Silence returned as they both contemplated things.                 “Matthew, was that really Julian?”                 Matthew nodded.                 “I think that it was.”                 “But, then how is he…”                 “Alive? I have no idea.”                 Matthew stood once again.                 “We won’t be able to figure out anything here, though. Let’s get back to Kisasi. It really has been a while since we’ve trained together. And after a day like today, I think we need it.”                 Andrew leaned forward.                 “Yeah, that’s true. Don't worry, brother. We'll get to the bottom of this... And by the way, he said that when you’re ready, you would meet again.”                 Matthew grew silent once more, simply nodding to ackowledge that he had heard what Andrew had said. Then, he stooped to pick up the jugs of water.                 “You know, that ability I was using incorporated water’s healing arts into it, so I don’t need this to heal any wounds I might have. If anything, my mind is the only thing that could use some recuperation.”                 Andrew stayed where he was seated, looking at his brother.                 “That’s nice, but those aren’t for you. I’m the one that needs it, so get over here and heal me, already.”                 With that, another round of laughter resounded as the two brothers let go of their defeat. There would be time again for redemption. They were both sure of it.

                There were many advantages to being an elemental fighter. Not only did it make it possible to control those very elements of earth, wind, water, lightning, and fire, but the very use of these elements created opportunities to augment one’s self by using them. An example of this is how Matthew, in particular, used wind. Using wind, he became increasingly more agile and his speed increased dramatically. An earth user like Andrew could increase the toughness of his body by using his earth element. A water user recovered incredibly quickly from injuries, even without utilizing healing techniques from water itself. Lightning users became people with incredibly quick reaction times. And, as for fire users, their attacking power increased incredibly.                 Such was the case for elemental fighters, and since it was a difficult journey to pursue the usage of multiple elements, many warriors became even more specialized in their elemental abilities. Earth users tend to become incredible walls of muscle and wind users became very fleet-footed individuals.                 This brought up another reason for the rare occurrence of fire users. Since it fueled the attacking power of its practitioners, many of them believed that defense would have to be sacrificed in order to truly gain the power of a fire user.                 That was what separated Matthew from other elemental fighters. He had always been curious about fire, and when he began to study it as an elemental ability, he realized just how intertwined it was with the other elemental abilities. He realized that these elemental abilities were not meant to simply stand alone. They were meant to work together. Just as the wind and the rain, in the end, could lead to the growth of flowers and other life; making use of multiple elements led to a person’s power truly flourishing.                 Matthew’s mind flashed back to a previous time when he made use of this ability. He had always toyed around with using multiple elements at the same time. To be able to augment his speed and attacking power at the same time was something he knew could give him a great advantage in battle, but figuring out how proved difficult. And finally, when he discovered how, he didn’t know just what the effects would be.                 He discovered that the power of each of those elements increased to an unfathomable scale. His attack power was devastating, and his speed and agility went to levels he had neither seen nor known. The power was incredible. But, as with all things that are that incredible, there are costs…                 Julian found himself curious at the sudden change that Matthew had demonstrated. He had been able to monitor Matthew’s movements . But now, that was not possible. He couldn’t even follow his movements at this point. He was simply just too fast to be able to follow it.                 I have a way of dealing with that speed, though…                 Julian was more or less aware of what had happened to Matthew, though. Although he had never seen it done, Julian had heard all of the theories. Combining his elemental abilities of fire and wind, he was able gain amazing power. It even surprised Julian, as very few people had been able to knock him off of his feet in quite a long time.                 There was something troubling Julian about Matthew’s appearance, though. Yes, he was covered in this mixture of fire and wind, and it would cause fear to come into anyone observing. That was not what troubled Julian, though.                 Julian had seen something in Matthew’s eyes. That look of seriousness, the complete focus, is what nagged at Julian’s thoughts. It reminded him of something, something that he had seen with Matthew before, but he couldn’t place it.                 What exactly is going on with you, Matthew?                 Matthew was completely amazed at the power that he now had. Sure, he had already used this once before, but it was the first time using it in combat, and he couldn’t help but feel satisfied at the results. After all, he had tried so hard to do anything to Julian before and nothing had any lasting effect on him. But now, with this incredible increase of power, he had already managed to knock Julian off of his feet… twice.                 But, it’s too soon to get excited. We better turn things up a little hotter…                 He was already working out a strategy in his head on how to do some more serious damage. He had used a more wind predominant attack to knock Julian off of his feet, and he even did it again as he made the wind erupt from the ground itself, launching Julian directly straight into the air, twirling as he went.                 Now, let’s see if we can do this...                 Setting himself up, he watched as Julian descended to the ground, face still turning from the momentum given to him. He was going to launch a physical attack at Julian. He already knew that whatever that was around Julian would prevent the attack from hitting. This time would be different, though. He would be adding this new blend of fire and wind into the mix.                 He had already proven that he could get a hit in by using his elements, so as he launched quick bursts of this mixture and making Julian spin around even more in his decent, he prepared himself so that this strike, even though it would not connect due to that weird ability encasing Julian, the energy would wash over him and still strike Julian.                 If only I could get a good, clean hit on him, though…                 He retreated from his position, allowing Julian to land on the ground, just barely managing to get his feet underneath him before impact. As soon as Julian fully gained his footing, Matthew stopped directly in front of him, looking him dead in the eye.                 Swinging out, Julian swung his blade at Matthew. Immediately, Matthew dodged, coming to a quick stop behind Julian’s back. Planting one of his feet, he then swung the other up, aiming for a spot on Julian’s back just below his shoulder blades.                 He chose this spot because no matter what direction his leg would be deflected, he would still be able to direct the energy attached to his kick, like a blade of energy, directly into Julian.                 His leg reached the distance that he knew the deflection would occur, and he could feel the tug pulling his leg up into the air. He already had the wake of fire and wind prepared, following immediately behind. But, he quickly was overwhelmed with surprise as his shin connected, just at the back of Julian’s neck.                 The wake of energy connected as well, and the combination of physical and elemental power knocked Julian completely off of his feet once again, driving him into the ground.                 Jumping back, Matthew couldn’t help but take a moment to think about what had happened. Before, any time that he had tried to land a physical attack, it never worked. But for some reason, this time was different. He had even felt the tug of that field around Julian.                 Wait…                 A thought crossed his mind as he contemplated, and he let out a deep, pained sigh as he thought. It was true. He had felt the tug, but as he thought about it, his quick thinking mind came up with an idea.                 I better confirm this to see if it’s true.                 Prepping for another round, he took off, heading away from Julian’s right flank. He then quickly changed direction, launching himself slightly into the air. Then, with a burst of energy, he flung himself directly at Julian. As he flew toward Julian, he brought his knee forward, aiming directly toward the side of Julian’s head. Julian could apparently feel where Matthew was coming from as began to turn his body towards the direction that Matthew was approaching from. Matthew once again felt the tug of that field around Julian, and just as he finished turning, Matthew’s knee hit him square in the chest.                 Still in midair, Matthew launched himself backward, landing in a crouch and sliding to a stop, using a hand to slow himself down. His breath came out in a few quick bursts as he stared at Julian, who was sent reeling from the blow.                 I guess that’s how it must be…                 It was simply by chance that Julian had turned to face the blow that had struck him in the chest. Julian was struggling to keep up with the movements that Matthew was accomplishing, and he had turned just because he felt a sudden change in air to his right, so he turned to see if it could maybe offer some insight to this incredible new ability that Matthew had come up with.                 He could tell that Matthew had somehow been able to combine his elements of wind and fire, and this combination that he had made, was truly superb, and Julian couldn’t help but be impressed. Matthew’s speed and power had gone to levels that Julian had never seen him accomplish before                 I don’t know how you managed to accomplish that, but it is excellent.                 And that was the moment that the knee struck Julian.                 Julian felt something in the very brief moment that Matthew had struck him with his knee. It was so miniscule, but to someone incredibly trained like Julian, he could feel what had just happened. Just after the moment of impact, he felt an ever so slight twitch in Matthew’s muscles. It was incredibly brief, but it made Julian finally make the connection to how odd, and yet familiar, Matthew’s eyes seemed.                 I understand it now, Matthew…. You’re in pain, aren’t you?                 There was  a very high cost to this ability that Matthew had developed. While his attacking power increased and while his speed and agility increased as well, his body still stayed the same. His body itself did not become tougher. It was the same body that he had before mixing his fire and wind together.                 And as far as the reason why he was in pain…                 The sudden stops and turns, the incredible and sudden increases of speed, and the escalated force of power that came from this ability were taking an incredible toll on his body. Putting it bluntly, his body was being torn apart by the force of this ability.                 The last time he had used it out was when he was testing it out in his family’s underground training area beneath Andrew’s smithing shop. That was also the same time he had broken both of his legs, the time when Andrew found him collapsed, facedown on the ground. This was an incredibly dangerous ability to use.                 Even now as he raced around, his body was screaming out to him. That was the reason for the look of pure seriousness and focus that he was maintaining right now. He was doing his best to make sure that Julian could not see the pain that he was in.                 He felt that jug of water at his side. He could use it to heal his body, but he would have to shut down one of his elements to use the healing arts involved with water. Doing that would either slow him down so that that strange blast could do him in, or he would lose the offensive power that he now had that was able to do actual damage to Julian. He was fairly stuck, unless…                 Touching that jug with his hand, an idea, maybe even more dangerous than the ability he currently was using, popped up into his mind.                 I really don’t what will happen if I do that…                 But, even as he thought about the risk involved, he couldn’t help but smile, in spite of how much pain he was in.                 I really do love to challenge myself, don’t I ?                 Julian could see that smile on Matthew’s face. He didn’t know what was going in that head of his, but he now knew that he was in terrible pain. He knew that look that he had on his face, after all, being a former member of the village’s warriors. Matthew made that look when he was in pain. It kept his mind clear, and also prevented enemies from knowing that they had actually accomplished applying damage to him.                 It was a slight disappointment to Julian as a warrior, though. It was not that he knew what was going on that disappointed him. It was the fact that it was not because of anything Julian had done directly that brought on that look. And it was an incredibly dangerous thing that he was doing with himself right now.                 Is this how far you will go in order to gain the truth that you seek? We had better bring this to a close.                 Standing straight up, he looked directly at Matthew, who was staying in a crouch.                Sensing something nearby, he glanced to see a tremendous form quite some distance away at the edge of their clearing.                I guess your fight is already over. Right, Mike? I guess Andy couldn’t beat you, after all.                He then saw directly opposite from where Mike was standing, across at the other edge of the clearing, another large form come into view. It was the mountainous of Matthew’s younger brother.                Hmm, now that I see you, I wonder who actually won that fight.                 He placed his sword in front of him, driving it into the ground. He then brought his hands together and began weaving his hands together, making signs as he did so. He was surprised to see that Matthew was doing the same thing. With that blazing torrent surrounding him, he began weaving signs from his crouched position.                 I guess you have something planned as well, don’t you? …But, what are those signs that you’re weaving?                 Finishing the signs with his own hands, he watched Matthew finish up his own as well. Julian took up his massive sword once again, pointing the blade once again behind him. Matthew stood to his feet, and reached within the folds of his clothing.                 Some hidden weapon?                 Bringing his hand out, Julian saw that it was no weapon, just a simple water jug that was in Matthew’s hand. Putting it to his lips, Matthew drank every last drop that was inside, then threw the bottle away. A moment passed, then the look on Matthew’s face disappeared. Seriousness still covered it, but he almost seemed at ease to Julian.                 Also, up to this point Matthew had been still in travelling mode, including the cloak that he used to conceal his appearance. But, as he let go of the jug of water, he also reached up to his neck and pulled the cloak over his head. As the cloak came off of his body, Julian could see his face become stone cold serious for a second.                 Matthew finished pulling the cloak off of him, and then tossed it aside as well. Just as the cloak reached a few feet from where Matthew stood, Matthew simply disappeared from sight, leaving only a white cloud where he had previously stood…                 Andrew had finally made it to the area where Matthew and Julian were fighting, and he was fairly surprised at the fact that they were fighting in the first place. If that really was Julian, then why would they even need to fight?                 He looked on as the two of them stood across from each other. Matthew was crouched to the ground just after unleashing an incredible display of some technique that he had never seen him do. But, Andrew had seen Matthew’s face. He knew that he was in pain from what he was doing. That technique must be taking its toll on his body. He questioned just what kind of an ability he had developed.                And he still felt nervous about that feeling nagging at the back of his mind…                 They began forming signs with their hands. Naturally, because he had no idea what kind of abilities Julian had, he didn’t even recognize the seals that he was making with his hands. But, when he saw the signs that Matthew was using, he immediately knew what they were.                 Matthew, what are you exactly planning on doing by using something like that?                 As Matthew stood just after completing his seals, he admitted to himself some apprehension about what he was about to do.                 And he wasn’t too happy when he saw the two massive forms that had taken themselves up as an audience for this battle.                 My first time using something like this, and this many people will see it. I don’t know how I feel about that… but I have to know…                 Pulling the jug from within his clothing, he drank it down to the last drop.                 It’s all or nothing, at this point. It feels like everything is about to be decided very shortly. Hmm, I better get rid of this, too. I can’t allow anything to get in the way once I activate it.                 Taking off his cloak, he took one last look at Julian before he felt the effect take hold.                 Let’s finish this, Julian.                 With an even greater burst of speed than he had heretofore used, it almost felt like his body was being torn apart for a split second, before the water’s healing began to do its work. Soon, he no longer felt the pain that he had previously felt with his combination of wind and fire. Plus, his speed went to unfathomable heights. It almost felt to him like instantaneous movement. His power was even more so than it was before when he landed those blows on Julian.                 I guess that’s what happens when you blend wind, fire,…and water all together into one…                 Disappearing from view, all that he left behind was his still midair cloak, and a white cloud… of steam.

              Andrew moved along slowly, heading in the direction where he had seen his brother, Julian, and even the warrior he had fought named Mike, head off towards. His injuries still hurt, but he needed to meet up with Matthew. If that guy caught up to them, Matthew would be placed in an unfair fight against two individuals.                 Andrew could feel the wind starting to pick as he moved more and more in that direction. He knew that the wind was coming from his brother.                 He also began to feel a sense of dread coming over him, increasing intensely with each step. He felt that it was related to Matthew.                 I really need to hurry. You had better hang on, brother. I’m coming.                                 As Matthew moved around, he kept an eye watching Julian’s movements. Julian hadn’t made much movement since the start of their fight.                 Considering his abilities, why would he need to?                 Matthew was measuring time as he sailed around.                 It should be right about now.                 He let up on the wind that he was pushing out for just a second. Shortly, a blast burst again right behind him, and it once again began pulling on him. But, Matthew was confused once again. The blast came without Julian extending his hand.                 He threw himself forward once again with a torrent of wind, pulling himself out of the trap of the blast. This time, he landed on his feet and kept his balance.                 Well, at least there’s one thing working in my favor. I figured out your timing. But, why did it come without you using your hand?                 At that moment, Matthew noticed something moving within the bandages on Julian’s sword. He couldn’t see what it was. He only saw movement.                 What was that?                 He gave himself a moment to take a breather. He was outside of Julian’s sword range and he knew the blast would take a little more time before its next detonation. Now, it was time to think.                 I think that might be the only way. But, I’ve never used it in combat before. And the last time I used it…                                 Being an elemental fighter, especially one who made use of multiple elements, Matthew thought about the way in which they were used. Using multiple elements in succession could prove very difficult, and Matthew was no exception. But, having a knowledge of multiple elements could also prove a great asset, as one could string together incredible combinations and appropriate counters for situations.                 Some time into his elemental discoveries, Matthew began to think about what would happen if multiple elements were used at the same time. Before, he had seen it done when two or more people combined to create unison attacks, incredible attacks of the elements like when Ryu and himself had faced those four elementals. But, even before that, he had toyed with the idea of doing that all on his own. He had come across a stumbling block, literally, inside his head.                 While meditating one day, he discovered a mental block that prevented him from making use of an additional element. He spent a large amount of time researching it, and eventually came up with a particular jutsu that could unlock this mental block…                 As another blast detonated incredibly close to Matthew, he began thinking about the relationship between two of his elements. He remembered one day when he was young when Lord Yaar was showing him something. He had taken a candle and lit. It burned brightly. But, then he took a glass jar and covered the candle. Very soon, the flame began to dwindle and disappear. But, before it went out, he took the jar off and the flame returned to its former state of brightness. That’s when Matthew learned about the relationship between fire and wind. Fire could be snuffed out by the wind, but at the same time, it could also become fuel for fire and make it stronger…                 Just after it finished its detonation, Matthew set foot on the ground. He stayed absolutely still. He began searching in his mind for that block, and closed his eyes. Hopefully, he would have enough time…                 Julian watched Matthew as soon as he fired the blast. He was slightly puzzled that Matthew suddenly stopped. Did he have some sort of plan? As time elapsed, Matthew still didn’t move. Even as he prepared another blast, he was wondering what Matthew was doing.                 Matthew, you had better do something quickly…                 Feeling the energy well up inside him, he became increasingly confused at his lack of movement. He didn’t even open his eyes.                 Matthew, what are you doing? If you don’t move… have you resigned yourself to defeat?                 Releasing the blast, he thought he felt a pang of sadness, even as Matthew finally opened his eyes…                                 The ground right at the point where Matthew had been standing suddenly erupted in the detonation of one of Julian’s blasts. Dust and debris scattered everywhere before suddenly compressing inward. No sign of Matthew remained…                 As the blast cleared, Julian looked over the scene. It was true that nothing seemed to remain of Matthew after that.                 I had hoped a lot from you, Matthew, but I guess you just weren’t ready…                 Relaxing his arm, he let his sword rest on the ground, but he still held it in his hand. He turned and began walking away.                 I think it might have been you who could do it, but I guess I was wrong.                 He kept walking, looking for the remnants of his cloak to take back with him when he suddenly was pushed forward. He tumbled on the ground and rolled until he was correct himself into a crouch.                 What just pushed me?                 Looking up, he saw the form of a human surrounded by fire… but it didn’t fully seem like fire. Winds were raging all around, but fire was completely raging as well, like an inferno. It all dispersed for just a moment and Julian took a glance at the face within those flames. Staring back at him was Matthew’s eyes, but serious and with complete focus.                 Standing back up to his feet, Julian wondered about this form Matthew had taken. He had no time to think, though, as Matthew immediately crouched down. Incredible explosions emanated from all around Matthew. And just as suddenly as he appeared before Julian, an incredible amount of thrust pushed Matthew straight forward at Julian.                 Bringing his sword to bear, he swung down right as Matthew came directly in front of him. As the sword dove itself into the ground, Julian discovered Matthew was already gone. And as soon as Julian began pulling his sword from the ground, he felt a surge of force behind him. He flew off of his feet, and slammed into a nearby tree.                 Looking back over his shoulder, he could see that even his highly resistant armor was now burnt.                 That’s some intense heat, but where did it come from?                 Matthew suddenly appeared before him as he stood to his feet.                 Still encased within the swirling combination of wind and fire, Matthew began to speak to Julian.                 “You know, Julian. I think it’s going to get interesting from here on out.”                 Something sounded different in his voice as he spoke to Julian, who had somewhat of an idea of what was going on with Matthew.                 So, that’s the answer you came to…                 Jumping back, Matthew landed in a crouch as explosions once again appeared all around Matthew. With another burst of thrust, he surged forward, eyes like two burning infernos, with a trail of wind and fire raging in his wake…

Those words became the signal to start the fight. Taking in all of Julian’s appearance in a brief second, Matthew dashed forward.                 He’s the one who made the challenge, so I’ll honor the request by being the first to make a move…                 Matthew was wearing his standard travelling cloak, and from within its folds, his hands emerged, holding throwing stars in each hand. Launching one towards Julian, Matthew tracked its path as it sailed towards its target. While he was not as the projectile making its way to Julian, he did have considerable speed to keep himself from falling too far behind.                 Although he was the first to initiate an attack, he knew better than to simply charge in and blindly aim to take an opponent down. Not knowing what an enemy is capable of would be deadly, and so it was always wise to figure out how to defeat your opponent without getting yourself defeated in the process.                 That was why he sent the throwing star at Julian. Even though it would simply cause an evasive or defensive measure, it would tell volumes about the opponent, such as movements and techniques. Little effort could be taken to give Matthew knowledge about what Julian could do.                 From Matthew’s perspective, he could tell that the star was going its mark, directly into the left shoulder of his opponent. He was sure that Julian knew this as well, but strangely enough, Julian was not doing anything to prepare for the attack. He didn’t even budge from the spot he was standing.                 Does he intend to just let it hit him, to keep me from discovering anything about his abilities?                 Matthew braced himself to his potential view of that shuriken striking its target.                 Surprise struck him instead, though, when he found that his throwing star missed its target, sailing widely over Julian’s left shoulder.                 Did I really miss that?                 It felt odd, considering how sure he was of its path to strike Julian’s shoulder, and so he launched the other throwing star he was holding, this one straight to the center of Julian’s chest.                 Watching closely, he kept his eye on the star, making sure that it was to hit where he was intending. He didn’t even blink as the shuriken suddenly changed its arc, and veered off Julian’s right side, narrowly missing him.                 What was that?                 Matthew was almost within distance to launch a melee attack, and he thought to do so until he began to see a swing from Julian’s arm that held the sword. Launching himself into the air, Matthew flew over Julian’s head, avoiding the blade and twisting in the air, landing while still facing Julian, although Julian’s back was still turned.                 Seeing that the projectile approach seemed to be having no effect, it was time to switch modes. Planting one of his feet, he brought the other one up and directed a kick to the back of Julian’s knee. Coming within close range of him, Matthew suddenly felt his foot forced downward, landing on the ground instead of hitting its mark.                 He could see Julian turning around, but before that could happen, Matthew spun on the foot that had been misdirected, bringing his elbow up and aiming for the back of Julian’s head. But again, before the blow could make its mark, he felt a force directing it up and above Julian’s head.               Hmmm…                 Julian was turning to his left, and so Matthew moved around his right side, setting some distance between them once again. He needed a moment, even if brief, to think about what to do.                 To Matthew, it felt as if Julian was moving incredibly slow, although he knew this was not completely the case. While his movements seemed, they only seemed slow in comparison to Matthew’s speed. Matthew could tell he was still faster than an ordinary human, but ninjas were no ordinary humans. Matthew was just much faster than him.                 Let’s try something out…                 As soon as Julian finished turning, Matthew released a gust of wind toward him, kicking up dust, twigs, leaves, and other such things that were laying on the forest floor.                 The gust flew up around Julian, encasing him in a swirling gust of debris. Naturally, Matthew was paying attention as all of the debris, just like all of his attacks, was flung away in all sorts of direction, not even touching Julian as the gust of wind itself stirred up Julian’s cloak.                 Continuing the gust around Julian, he knew that it wouldn’t really have an effect, but at least it would obstruct his vision long enough to give himself an extra second to think.                 Wait a second…                 A smile formed on Matthew’s face as a realization entered his mind.                 Is that really how it works…? I guess the only way to find out…                 Wind came from within Matthew, flowing from behind him and drastically increasing his speed.                 Let’s see if I can gain an advantage here…                                 From Julian’s perspective, Matthew suddenly became a blur of movement, although Julian was still able to track his movements for the most part. But, he was getting faster and faster, and the air in the area of their battle was getting stirred up more and more. Darting amongst the trees, he would lose sight of Matthew for a moment, but then he would reappear, suddenly moving even faster than before. Julian soon found himself caught up in a torrent of wind that Matthew was creating.                 I see that he still uses that method, although he’s much better than he was before. But, Matthew, is it enough?                 Focusing on the intense speed being output by Matthew, he decided to just focus on where he was moving and just be ready for an attack. As the wind around him got stronger and stronger, his cloak was being stirred up more and more. Soon, the cloak felt like it was flying around just as much as Matthew was. Still tracking Matthew’s movements, Julian kept watch to see what Matthew might be up to, even as, for just a split second, the cloak came in front of his eyes.                 As soon as his vision was cleared again, Julian knew something was amiss. The wind was still raging around him, but the blurred image of Matthew’s movements were nowhere to be seen. Matthew was a ninja, so it was likely that he hid somewhere to gain an element of surprise.                 But, the best place to gain surprise when you’re an assassin is…                 Julian spun around, swinging his sword as he turned. But, he was too late as flames engulfed him from thin air. The image of Julian disappeared inside a wall of flames…                 Matthew looked in front of him as his arms were extended outwards, embedded in the wall of flames. He was waiting for that one precise moment when Julian’s vision was obstructed to cover his approach. Where he stood now was proof of the success of his strategy.                 Jumping backward, he withdrew the flames as he moved. He didn’t want to kill him. He quickly was able to see a form within the flames… still standing.                 Immediately, he absorbed the rest of the flames that he could, but some were still left smoldering on the form in front of him.                 Julian?!                 From within the smoldering form, he could see an arm reach up. Yanking the cloak off and tossing it aside, a form clad in black body armor with bright pink hair and an incredible large sword stood. No burns were visible anywhere.                 How in the heck did you survive that?                 “Very impressive, Matthew.”                 Julian turned to face Matthew, still showing no sign of emotion on his face.                 “You are still as intuitive as ever. It seems that you were able to figure out my ability.”                 Matthew held back a smile.                 “But, that’s just the beginning, Matthew.”                 Raising his hand to the side, he extended his palm in the direction of a tree standing to the side. It quickly exploded, and its fragments were crushed inwards towards the center of the explosion.                 “Let’s see how you fare with something a little more difficult, shall we?”

When he came to, he saw that he was propped up against the fallen tree. Directly in front of him, the giant was sitting as well, wrapping the bandages and chains back around his arm. Andrew tried to get to his feet, but pain enveloped his side. “You shouldn’t move just yet.” The man spoke from his spot, surprising Andrew at how… helpful… he was. Through pained words, he said to him, “Why didn’t you kill me?” Standing, Andrew could see the labored efforts in his opponent’s movements. “I only kill if I’m told to do so. Besides, no one has been able to give me a fight like that in a long time. But, I’ve gotta catch up to my partner, so see ya.” He started to leave, but Andrew called to him. “Who are you?” The man stopped, and stayed silent for a moment. “… My name is Mike. I’ll give you that honor for a great fight.” “I’m Andrew…” And with that the man left, heading in the direction that he knew his brother had headed in. Andrew sat for a moment, realizing that… he had lost… His thoughts soon drifted to his brother, though, as he thought about how not only was he chasing after a person, but also the fact that there was a second, very dangerous individual coming his direction as well. Brother, be careful…

                Andrew found himself curious at the struggle that he was currently engaged. He and the mysterious giant were trading blows, almost equally, but Andrew could still sense that something weird was going on.                 They had been fighting for an unknown amount of time and a split second glance at his surroundings made him concerned. Initially, they had been fighting in a small clearing, with trees and other various natural objects around them. Very little light could make its way into the clearing because of the canopy of trees overhead. Even animals of all sorts were around and could be heard in the depths of the forest. It had been a mysterious and wonderful scene.                 But, in the glance that he had made around him, this was no longer what he saw. Trees were uprooted. Others were splintered to pieces. Boulders were split in two. Fissures opened up in the ground. Large patches of light poured into the now enlarged clearing as a result of the fallen trees. This was no longer the scene that it had once been.                 Andrew banished the outside thoughts from his mind, and focused on the matter at hand. This fight really needed to end.                 As he fought, he felt something strange occurring. He thought it had been strange, but also thought that it was just something all in his head. But, as the battle dragged on with this fellow behemoth of a man, his thoughts began to solidify into affirmations.                 They had started off as a simple slugfest, trading blow for blow after Andrew had blindsided him with the initial punch. After that, it became a match of sheer and utter power and physical force. Each slug seemed to hit harder and harder between the two as he and this giant buried their fists into each other. But, one thing that Andrew was thinking was that the other man’s skin seemed to be getting… harder. Not only that, but seemingly without any added effort, he seemed to be hitting harder as well.                 That was when Andrew decided to use his Stone Skin technique. It would multiply his offensive and defensive power by encasing his body in stone. With this technique activated, it multiplied his power exponentially. And that’s when the destruction of the area began.                 But, even with this exponential power, Andrew could still feel this other giant matching him blow for blow. He couldn’t understand how this was happening.                 Just what, exactly, is this guy?                 It hadn’t seemed like he had done anything special to match Andrew’s power, it almost felt like there was something underneath his skin that was matching up with Andrew.                 Looking over the man as he traded blows with him, Andrew scanned his face, clothing, or anything that would give him a clue to what was bringing out this power in his opponent.                 The cloak, too small to really do the job that it was intended to do, was being flung all along his back, getting caught up in gusts of wind, looking more like a cape than a cloak. The hood stayed on his head, veiling his face in partial shadow, although Andrew had already been able to get a good look at his face. No odd scars or facial oddities covered his face. His size was simply something that could match Andrew’s own. Not many particular things were brought to his attention.                 The only thing that really stood out to Andrew were his forearms, bound in bandages and chains. Andrew could see strange markings covering those bandages.                 Are those seals?                 As Andrew saw those markings, he knew that it had something to do with this man’s sheer power.                 Hmm, I guess I can’t find out his power if I don’t get him to use it.                 Clasping both hands together, he struck the ground, opening up a fissure that snaked its way straight toward his opponent. The man jumped to the side, dodging the split in the ground. But, while midair, he suddenly found Andrew right in front of him. A direct blow from Andrew’s fist sent him sprawling through a rock directly below him.                 Andrew landed away from him, taking a step back to ensure some distance the two individuals. He waited for the man to stand back to his feet.                 Once he had stood back up, he looked straight at Andrew, who could see a small look of confusion in his eyes.                 “I understand your confusion. You must be thinking to yourself, wondering how I was able to suddenly be right in front of you. After all, we’re of similar stature and size. So, you would think that my speed would be right about the same as well, correct?”                 The other man tilted his head. Andrew could tell that he had spoken exactly what he was thinking.                 “Well, you’re kind of right. But, unfortunately for you, I’m used to sparring with someone much faster than you. All I can say is that you move like a turtle compared to him.”                 A slight look of agitation came across the man’s face, but quickly disappeared.                 So much for trying to make him lose his cool… But, what I said is the truth. He’s nowhere  near the level of his speed. And since I’m used to sparring with him, I at least can say that I have much faster reactions in my possession… Let’s see what I can do with it…                 The man began running towards him. Andrew could feel another heavy clash coming from this.                 He crouched down, sliding one foot back. Placing one hand to the ground, he placed the other hand on his hip, and waited. His opponent kept running towards him, charging like a massive monster through the wilderness.                Not yet…                 Andrew still stayed in a crouch, waiting calmly as the behemoth came barreling down at him.                 Not yet…                 The giant made its way to him, and was soon within arms’ reach. Lifting his arms, he clasped his hands together, setting himself to bring them down directly onto Andrew’s skull.                 Now…                 Andrew suddenly lunged forward, using both a combination of speed and strength. Throwing himself directly into his torso, Andrew lifted the man off of his feet. Still holding onto him with one arm, he sent three heavy blows into his stomach, letting go with the last punch. The force of the blow sent his opponent a considerable distance away, but as he flew, Andrew grabbed one of his ankles with both hands. Swinging him up above his head, Andrew swung his arms down, bringing his opponent down like a massive hammer striking the ground.                 As the man struck the ground, Andrew imagined he could hear the sound of metal striking, and wondered just how much he had been able to do with his combination of attacks.                 Letting go of his ankle, Andrew leapt backward, giving some distance between him and his opponent. Standing, he waited.                 For some moments, he stood there, never taking his eyes off of the man laying before him. But, seeing that he wasn’t getting up, Andrew soon felt his body slowly beginning to relax. Glancing to his side, he saw a large rock still unscathed by the fight that had ensued there. Still not taking his eyes off of the man on the ground, he made his way to the rock and sat down.                 While sitting, he reached up and scratched the top of his head. His eyes closed while he scratched.                 I guess he’s actually down… It’s weird… He felt tougher than that…                 He was confused at how suddenly he had taken him down, but his mind began thinking of other matters.                 I need to join up with Matthew…. Was that really Julian…?                 He began standing, simultaneously opening his eyes as he did so.                 Those eyes that were now opened grew incredibly wide, then narrowed quickly.                 The man was gone…                 Where did he…?!                 As soon as he finished standing, he felt something at his back. Turning quickly, he leapt aside, narrowly avoiding a blow from above.                 The rock that he had been sitting on was suddenly shattered to rubble as the giant plowed through it with a stomp. Andrew could see his eyes, dark and cold. Those eyes were fully following his movements, and Andrew could see one of those fists beginning to move.                 I won’t be able to dodge this while in midair...                 His thoughts were cut off as that fist was driven directly into his ribcage. Having felt his punches thus far, Andrew braced himself for what he knew was coming.                 But, an extreme level of pain shot through him as the blow landed its mark. Andrew could feel himself being flung away from him, and thought he felt something snap in his side.                 Landing on the ground, he slid for some distance before coming to a stop. He moved quickly to get himself to his feet, not wanting to let his opponent get another opportunity like the one that was just given.                 As he brought himself to his feet, he felt another sharp pain in his side. Making sure not to show any sign of injury, he contemplated.                 Broken rib? Even through my Stone Skin?!                 He wasn’t given any time to think about it, as the behemoth charged at him once again. Just as the man reached him, Andrew wrapped one hand around his neck, simultaneously reaching low and grabbing around his leg. Using the momentum of the forward charge, he swung his body around, once again lifting the man off of his feet. Swinging around, he slammed the man directly onto his back. Quickly, he moved on top of him, held one shoulder down with one of his hands, and used the other to begin pounding him, sending echoes of the blows throughout the clearing.                 After receiving a few hits from Andrew’s heavy hand, the giant was able to bring his hands up. Using one arm to cover his face, he flung the other forward, landing at the spot where Andrew believed himself to have a broken rib. Immense pain followed, giving the giant a split second moment to counter, managing to get his knee between him and Andrew, and pushed him away.                 Both stood to their feet, and for the first time since their fight began, both warriors were showing signs of fatigue. Andrew could feel the pain in his side every time he breathed. But, he could see that the blows he had been giving him were showing their effect, as bruising showed up around various portions of his face. Both warriors were letting out their breathing in longer, heavier rounds.                 Andrew could see his opponent’s face slowly begin to move, as a smile slowly came over his face. Although Andrew understood why he was smiling, and felt the same way as him, he couldn’t bring himself to smile.                 “I gotta hand it to ya. You’re pretty tough,” the giant spoke, for the first time since they had begun fighting.                 Andrew only stared at him.                 “I’ll admit that, too. You’re the toughest I’ve fought in a long time.”                 The man before him stood completely upright, tilting his head to the side. Andrew could hear the crack of his neck all the way from where he was standing.                 “This fight is taking way too long, though, and I’ve got places to be.”                 Andrew could feel his gaze directly meet with his opponent’s eyes as he continued to speak.                 “What do ya say we finish this, huh?”                 Andrew felt a slight twinge of frustration that quickly passed.                 I’ve been trying to finish this from the start.                 The man crouched to the ground, and Andrew could hear him whispering words as he knelt. Looking up at him, he paused his whispers.                 “You know, I always get in trouble with him for this since I tend to lose my mind, but I think if I only do a part, I should be okay.”                 And then, he looked back at his arm, beginning to whisper again.                 The chains began to fall off of one of his arms. The bandages began to unravel as the marks on those bandages began to fade.                 He looked back up at Andrew, who was slightly apprehensive at what he was doing.                 “Oh, and you better forget about catching with your partner. You aren’t going anywhere unless you get through me.”                 The last bandage fell from his arm, chains completely gone. As the marks slowly faded from sight, he began to laugh, a maniacal laugh as his arm seemingly began to glow and shimmer. Looking back to Andrew from his knelt position, his laughter ceased and those eyes became dark and cold once again.                 “Well? Let’s do this.”

Moments passed as Matthew tried to make sense of what was before him. He couldn’t believe what his eyes were telling him. Of course, earlier Matthew and Andrew had seen the sword that this man held and the way that he held it, but he still didn’t believe it. And sure, after chasing him through to the location they were now at, he still couldn’t believe that the face he was staring at belonged to the same person that disappeared from before his very eyes years before. And it confused him all the more seeing this image before him bearing that particular symbol.                 He was waiting for a response from him, something to let him know who this really was. And so he just waited.                 Finally, the form in front of him spoke.                 “I know what you’re thinking, Matthew.”                 It sounds like him, too… but it sounds so cold…                 “You must be confused, seeing me like this right now…”                 “Then, explain yourself, Julian. Where have you been all this time? Where did you go?”                 Another moment of silence passed as he seemed cautious on what words to say.                 “I can’t explain a lot of things to you right now, Matthew, but there is one thing I will say for certain. It really is me. After all, the last time I saw you as well was when I disappeared right in front of your eyes while on that mission…”                 Matthew’s eyes narrowed, contemplating about how this man knew exactly when the last time they saw each other was.                 “But, that is the limit of the knowledge that I can give you…”                 A loud sound came from the forest where they had entered this area from. Both of the men’s ears perked up at the sound, knowing that their partners were battling at this point in time. And from the sound of it, it was a pretty intense fight that was happening beyond the trees.                 Matthew felt an urge to go help his brother, but he somehow thought that what was happening where he was located personally was strangely important. And so, he gave his entire attention back to the matter at hand.                 More silence passed between the two individuals, and Matthew looked at him, studying to see if this really was him. There was no emotion in his, but the voice still sounded like him. His face looked the same as it did when he had left, but… pale. And of course, he boasted the sword that had once belonged to only him, pointing it backwards from him, as was Julian’s style of swordsmanship.                 Maybe it really is… but if so, then what happened to him?                 “Why is it that you just now have shown up? What are you trying to do?”                 Another moment passed in silence as the man standing in front of Matthew seemed to be contemplating what to do. Finally, he seemed to reach a resolution. Looking straight at Matthew’s eyes, he asked bluntly.                 “How strong are you, Matthew?”                 Matthew felt confusion at the question.                 “If you really are Julian, then you know better than to ask a question like that.”                 The man nodded, closing his eyes for a split second.                 Warriors of the village of Kisasi rarely spoke of their own power. It offered to much of an advantage to those listening. If their enemies were to hear particular things about their power, then they might work out a strategy to take them down. So, they simply didn’t speak of their own power. Additionally, they never asked about the power of their fellow warriors. The warriors of Kisasi liked to challenge themselves with the unknown all too often, keeping them on their toes. They often left the important knowledge and details up to those in charge.                 Julian turned around, facing away from Matthew.                 “Matthew, there are many things that are about to happen. I don’t believe even you has what it takes to stop them, even if you are the one who taught me everything that I know about combat.”                 Matthew was perplexed at what he was saying.                 “What are you talking about, Julian?”                 I guess I’m starting to believe that it really is him.                 Julian seemed to think for another moment, and then came up with another resolution.                 “Maybe, if you are able…”                 “If I’m able to what?”                 Julian raised the backwards pointed sword forward, directing its blade in Matthew’s direction.                 “I’ll make you a deal , Matthew. If you can defeat me, then I will tell you everything…”                 A shock shook Matthew for a second before he looked straight into Julian’s serious and cold eyes.                 Defeat you? …Julian…                 Andrew stood with his breathing beginning to grow ragged. He could feel the fatigue starting to set in as he had been fighting a colossal fight with this man of comparable stature. A slight glance around revealed trees fallen and uprooted, smashed and splintered to pieces. Boulders crumbled and portions of the ground were split.                 I must hand it to this guy. He’s really tough… but, there’s something odd about him…                 Andrew had first noticed it when his fist connected the first time. To Andrew, it felt like he had punched a wall of something harder than stone.                 And while Andrew was beginning to feel the effects of this prolonged combat, the man that he was fighting seemed to show no signs of fatigue whatsoever. And Andrew could tell that he wasn’t even using his full power.                 And what’s with those bandages on his arms? Those look like seals on them…                 Andrew’s mind drifted for a second as he thought of where his brother had gone, chasing off after an apparent ghost.                 Was that really him?                 He shook the thoughts from his head. He had to focus on the task at hand. He could go catch up with Matthew, later… after he took care of this guy.                 Maybe we better turn it up a notch… This situation doesn’t feel right, though…                 He crouched with one knee to the ground. Slamming one of his fists to the ground, he brought his other fist to bear in front of him, slamming it as well into his own chest.                 Immediately, his skin turned gray, becoming angular and cracking in areas of his body. Standing back up, his skin became a solid mass of stone.                 “What do you say we take this up a notch, eh? I’ve got somewhere to be…”                 Matthew regained his composure and questioned Julian.                 “What do you mean by defeat you?”                 “I mean exactly that. If you can defeat me in a fight, then I will tell you everything.”                 Matthew stared at Julian.                 Andrew and I taught him how to fight, but I haven’t seen him in years. How strong has he become?                 He contemplated the challenge for a moment before he made his decision.                 “…Very well, Julian. I’ll be your opponent. You’ll tell me everything?”                 “Yes, I’ll tell you everything,” Julian nodded.                 Matthew looked at his surroundings. This picturesque scenery would become a tragedy if it were to become damaged…                 “Let’s take this fight back into the forest. I don’t want to fight in this place, if that would be all right with you.”                 Julian nodded.                 “It seems you are still the same Matthew as before. That is fine. We will not fight here to prevent this place from being damaged. Lead the way.”                 Matthew turned and led Julian back a ways into the forest, looking over his shoulder at the clearing. Something seemed important about that place, but it would have to wait for another time. Right now…                 He stopped some distance into the forest and turned to face Julian.                 “Are you sure about this, Julian?”                 Julian turned the sword backwards once again, pointing it directly behind him. With the cold eyes and voice that he had so far, he simply said, “Come… and face me… Matthew…”